Made New
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Ephesians 4:14-16
When we give our lives to Jesus we become a new creation in him. God desires us to reach maturity in our faith. Many times we could get stuck in spiritual infancy because we’re not being “built up”. We are toss back and forth because our faith is weak. Everything moves us, our faith gets wavered but when we build on the solid rock -Jesus sustains us!
When we compare physical infancy to adulthood you see the difference in their mannerisms, the way they carry themselves, how they eat, how they dress, how they talk, and so on. In the same way we could liken that to our spiritual maturity. We need to cross over from infancy to Childhood to adulthood. We can’t get stuck or satisfied at the level where at.
Three areas that need to be built up in our lives:
1. Our thinking
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:16, 22-24 NIV
We need to be made new in the attitude of our minds! We can’t do that without the transforming power of the Word of God. The Word is what transforms our minds and teaches us to be made new- to go from negative to positive from dirty to holy and from fear to faith! The word of God will be put to action when we read it, it does not come back void it will do what it sets out to do.
Martin Luther once said “you can stop a bird from flying over your head but you can stop him from building a nest.” This is speaking about our thought life . We can’t help what pops in our mind but we can help what we ponder on. We have to learn how to redirect our thoughts.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Philippians 4:8 NIV
http://bible.com/111/php.4.8.NIV
2. Our words
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
Ephesians 4:29
The Bible says that our words have the power of life and death. It’s important that we guard what comes out of our mouths. We must grow in the things we say being “slow to speak and quick to listen.” The things we say is a mark of our maturity. The bigger part of the scripture is not just for us but the listener. The people around us we must learn how to build up, encourage , and speak the truth in love!
May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord , my Rock and my Redeemer.
Psalm 19:14 NIV
3. Our Actions
Maturity is not measured by our age; we could be saved for many years and still be at infant stage. We cant act the same way when we first came to the Lord. Rough and tough, unyielding, no conviction, no filter and so on God works in progression- meaning hes always moving forward.When we begin to line up our thinking, and our words our actions will follow. The things we go through produced character. Going through life’s lessons teaches us, grows us, and keeps us according James 1:2-4.
In all these things we must choose to change.
We can’t just stop the old we also must start the new!
Michelle Laney
