What does the Bible say about maturity?

The Bible passages below can be used in sermons, prayers, and worship planning focused on Christian maturity. 

See also Sanctification

• Numbers 1:1-4, with age and maturity comes responsibility 
• Deuteronomy 21:18-21, maturity involves obedience, not rebelliousness
• Psalm 1:3, the righteous are like trees planted by streams of water
• Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd; I have everything I need
• Psalm 92:12-14, the righteous flourish in the courts of the Lord
• Luke 2:52, as he grew up, Jesus grew in wisdom and favor before God and humans
• 1 Corinthians 2:6, we speak of wisdom among the mature, but it's not the wisdom of this word
• 1 Corinthians 13:11-12, I used to think like a child, but when I become an adult, I put childish ways aside; someday I will know fully and be fully known
• 1 Corinthians 14:20, be infants in evil but think like adults
• 2 Corinthians 4:16, though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed each day
• Galatians 3:23-25, spiritual maturity is found in Christ
• Ephesians 4:11-15, we must come to maturity in faith and in the knowledge of Jesus, growing up in every way into Christ, the head of the body 
• Philippians 3:10-15, let those who are mature be of the same mind
• 1 Timothy 4:12, set an example by showing signs of spiritual maturity, no matter your age
• Hebrews 5:12-14, infants live on milk; the mature live on solid food
• Hebrews 6:1-2, maturity in understanding and in study of the Bible
• 2 Peter 3:18, grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ
• 1 John 2:13-14, spiritual maturity is not linked to age; strength comes from knowing God's word and overcoming evil 

Faith of children? 

Sermons about Christian maturity can explore the fact that though the Bible says we should move beyond elementary matters to a more mature, deeper faith (Hebrews  6:1-2), we are reminded that Jesus praises the faith of children and invites them to him (Luke 18:17). Jesus tells us to become like children (Matthew  18:2). God ordains praise from the lips of children and infants (Psalm 8:2). While we desire to grow in spiritual maturity, we should not lose the childlike wonder of faith. 

Changing landscapes 

Sermons about spiritual maturity can also note the Bible's indifference to age — an important reminder as today's world wrestles with the concept of emerging adulthood, often understood as prolonged adolescence. For older folks concerned about the perceived laziness of younger folks, we are reminded to avoid proof-texting our expectations of how certain ages are supposed to act. For younger folks navigating the realities of a changing world, we are reminded that God expects all believers, young and old alike, to grow in spiritual maturity. 

Practical realities? 

The census of God's people in the early chapters of Numbers demonstrates that the people of Israel were to be aware of practical realities and differences between children and adults during their wandering in the desert. They were to consider how many adult men would be available for the wars they would face (Numbers  1:3). Levites were given specific instructions for ages of eligible priestly service (Numbers  8:24-25).  

Churches do well to consider these practical realities when considering communal life. Young people may be spiritually mature, but due to their unfamiliarity with budgets, leaders may decide it best to withhold voting rights until a certain age. And contextual expectations may mean that it is best not to allow even wise youth to serve on the church leadership body. As God expected Israel to take practical considerations into account, so too should our churches. 

Covenantal reminders 

In sermons about Christian maturity, we can note that in the census data of Numbers, the Levites are counted not from fighting age but from birth (Numbers  3:15). The Levites, representative of God's people in their service to the tabernacle and temple, were also a reminder of the covenantal promises of God given to the whole household (Acts 2:39). As churches wrestle with the practical distinctions of youth and adulthood, we are reminded that God's covenant is not just with adults, but with children as well. 

Sermon ideas about Christian maturity 

Spiritual wholeness 

Sermons about spiritual adulthood or Christian maturity could focus on the meaning of spiritual wholeness. Spiritually whole people fit God's design for flourishing. They function as God intends in their relationships to God, others, nature, and self. They possess the resources, motives, purposes, and character typical of someone who functions smoothly inside God's design. A spiritually whole person is one who combines strengths and flexibilities, disciplines and freedoms, all working together from a renewable source of vitality — namely, the energy of the Holy Spirit. This is a Psalm 1 person who flourishes like a fine sapling rooted into the bank of a dependable stream. 

Spiritual longing 

What are some features of this flourishing that we can explore in worship and sermons? In the Christian view, spiritually whole persons long in certain classic ways. They long for God and the beauty of God, for Christ and Christlikeness, for the quiet ferment of the Holy Spirit within them. They long for spiritual wholeness itself — and not just as a consolation prize when they cannot have wealth or fame. They long for other human beings; they want to love them and to be loved by them. They hunger for justice. They long for nature, for its beauties and graces. 

They are people of the Word. They absorb God's Word in Bible reading and sermons in solid increments that build across many years. They are rooted deeply enough in the Word that when the winds of heresy blow, they might bend but they won't break. 

They are people of character consistency. They are reliable and keep promises. They show up when you need them. They weep with those who weep and, perhaps more impressively, rejoice with those who rejoice. They do all these things in ways that express their own personality and culture, but also with a general "mind of Christ" that is cross-culturally unmistakable. 

Their motives include faith: a quiet confidence in God and in the mercies of God that radiate from the self-giving work of Jesus Christ. They know God is good and feel assured that God is good to them. Their faith secures them against the ceaseless oscillations of pride and despair familiar to every human being who has taken refuge in the cave of their own being and tried there to bury their insecurities under a mound of achievements. When their faith slips, they retain faith enough to believe that the Spirit of God, whose energy is a renewable resource, will one day secure their faith again. 

Their faith, since it fastens on God's benevolence, triggers gratitude, which in turn prompts risk-taking in the service of others. Grateful people want to let themselves go; faithful people dare to do it. People tethered to God by faith can let themselves go because they know they will get themselves back. 

The classic longings motivate a sound life; so do faith and gratitude. Of course, all these things fail from time to time, and our sermons about Christian maturity should acknowledge this. Spiritually mature people know very well the drag of sloth and doubt. They know about spiritual depression. They know what it is like to feel keenly that the world has been emptied of God. That is why spiritually whole people discipline themselves by such spiritual exercises as prayer, study, fasting, confession, worship, and reflective walks. They ponder the lives of saints and compare them to their own. They spend time and money on just and charitable causes. They are willing to be obscure. 

To glorify God 

What goals can we discuss in sermons about Christian maturity? Mature believers covet the virtues and character strengths that Christians since the time of Paul have prized: compassion, for example, and patience. Through their practice of spiritual discipline, they pursue these and other excellences: endurance, hope, humility, forthrightness, hospitality.  

They then try to work them into a routine, always aware that in order to grow in these excellences they need both to strive for them and to fail in their striving so that they understand anew their need of God's grace. Because God's grace is a major part of God's reputation, believers who reach for grace and live from it are instrumental in glorifying God. They enhance God's reputation. 

The point of our lives is not to get smart, or to get rich, or even to get happy — and our sermons about Christian maturity should make this plain. The point is to discover God's purposes for us and to make them our own. The point is to learn ways of loving God above all and our neighbor as ourselves, and then to use these loves the way a golfer uses certain checkpoints to set up for a drive. The point is to be lined up right, to seek first the kingdom of God, to try above all to increase the net amount of shalom in the world. 

To glorify God is to do these things and, by doing them, to make God's intentions in the world more luminous and God's reputation more lustrous. To enjoy God forever is to cultivate a taste for this project, to become more and more the sort of person for whom eternal life with God will be sheer heaven. 

Excerpts about maturity and adulthood 

Following are sample excerpts from Zeteosearch.org sermon resources about Christian maturity and spiritual adulthood: 

"All of us are to speak the truth in love, which leads to the maturation of the church and its members (Ephesians 4:15). Christ enables the whole body to grow, but only "as each part does its work" (Ephesians 4:16)." Scripture Meditation by Mark D. Roberts from Theology of Work  

"What does it look like for a person to become mature in Christ (or grow into "the measure of the full stature of Christ,"?" Discussion Questions by Discipleship Ministries 

"He is foreshadowing the work of he would take as Messiah as an adult: arguing theology and law with the powers that be, speaking in confounding sentences that would be revealed later, and finding meaning and purpose in his Father's house."  Sermon Preparation or Illustration by David Peter from A Plain Account 

"As we live in this new womb that is the world, awaiting our birth into eternal life, we have a much clearer idea of who we are and who our Divine Family is; for their part they eagerly look for our entry into that fullness of life." Article about Theology by Charles Kestermeler from Church Life Journal   

Worship ideas about Christian maturity 

Following are sample excerpts from Zeteosearch.org worship resources about Christian maturity and spiritual adulthood: 

"All the way my Savior leads me– What have I to ask beside? Can I doubt His tender mercy, who through life has been my guide?" Hymn by Fanny Crosby from Hymnary  

"Young adults often challenge middle-age and older adults to think differently and more deeply about our traditions and values and what really matters." Service Outline by Reginald Bell Jr. From The African American Lectionary