WISDOM FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH

“As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the WORD, that you may GROW thereby” – 1 Peter 2:2

God’s WISDOM for SPIRITUAL GROWTH is as follows: “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the WORD, that you may GROW thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious” (1Pet.2:2-3). Growth is a product of God’s Word. Arrested development is not an option for Believers. We have a sacred responsibility to mature continuously in faith, become more Christ-like, and grow more attuned to God’s Will. We should cultivate a longing for His Word with the zeal that babies crave their mothers’ milk! We must dive deeper into Scripture to become the disciples Christ intends us to be: “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (Jh.8: 31b-32).

Paul wrote to Timothy: “And that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you WISE for SALVATION through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2Tim.3:15). So, there is Wisdom for Spiritual Growth in Salvation. Accepting Jesus as Saviour without feeding spiritually on His truth will make one more vulnerable to feelings than to Faith. Knowing what Scripture says helps us to discern God’s truth from the enemy’s lies. The way to Christian growth is to develop a hunger for God's Word that’s comparable to a baby's desire for milk and the adult’s hunger for meat or solid food.

Babies grow by taking all of the nourishment that their bodies need in the early months of their lives. But it must be good milk; in the case of the believer, "pure spiritual milk" or “unadulterated milk” of God's Word, nothing else. Only His inerrant and infallible Word can nourish real Christians, whether through preaching, teaching, or devotions. Pure spiritual milk refers to the elementary truths of God’s Word prior to progressing to eating solid foods, which are the deeper truths (Heb.5:12). Those who refuse to feed on Scripture will remain perpetual spiritual babes, with lives characterised by carnality, envy, strife, and divisions (1Cor.3: 1-3).

Salvation is paramount, but we must also grow in faith and godly liv­ing. Those who don’t tend to become vulnerable to deception and being led astray by the evil one (1Tim.4: 1-3). They “will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (2Tim.4:3-4). In order to grow spiritually, 2 Timothy 2:15 urges: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

The Bible speaks of: growing up into Christ and being "rooted and built up in Him" (Eph.4:5; Col.2:7). As a seed of grain grows into a new plant, Believers with regenerated hearts, must grow up into maturity in Christ. Although spiritual development follows a similar pattern as the physical – babyhood, childhood, and adulthood, there are few vital differences. Physical growth may be almost involuntary; spiritual growth demands our responsibility. Physical growth occurs mainly in the early years of life and may plateau in early adulthood; spiritual growth should continue all through life. Full Maturity will come only when we breakthrough into eternity: “but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1Jh.3:2b).

The proof of spiritual growth is that we “as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (v.5). Then we can be described as follows: “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy” (vv.9-10). It takes the Spirit of God to create in us the craving for His Word!