Good Morning Friends,
“It was he (Jesus) who gave some to be
apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors
and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of
Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the
knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure
of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11-13)
What does maturity look like?
Paul makes the answer pretty clear to the
Ephesians. He says that maturity looks like Jesus! To be mature is to attain
the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
To be mature means to have the same priorities
that Jesus had. His priorities were the will of God and the needs of the people
around Him.
To be mature means to have the same attitudes
that Jesus had. His attitudes were an unwavering commitment, absolute
unselfishness, compassion, kindness, confidence, serenity, and a host of others.
To be mature means to act in the same ways that
Jesus would act if He faced the same situations we face. There was never a time
in Jesus’ life in which He gave in to a sinful response to anyone around Him or
anything He faced. He responded with purposefulness to each situation and with a
godly response.
Is maturity attainable? Well, not perfectly in
this life, although the promise of the Bible is that we will attain maturity in
heaven. The Apostle John promised, “But we know that when he appears, we shall
be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies
himself, just as he is pure.” (1 John 3:2-3)
In a moment of time, when we see Jesus, we will
be transformed to perfect maturity. In the meantime, maturity is to be our goal
and the direction in which we are to be moving.
His, by Grace,
Steve
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