christian maturity

¹¹When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I understood like a child, I thought like a child. But when I became a man, I put aside the things of a child.

¹²For even though it is the time when you ought to be teachers, you are still lacking, so that you must be taught the things that are the basic elements of the Word of God, and so you have been made like those who are in need of milk, and not of solid food. ¹³For anyone who is still feeding on milk is still unskillful in the Word of Justice; for he is like an infant. ¹⁴But solid food is for those who are mature, for those who, by practice, have sharpened their mind, so as to discern good from evil.

²⁰Brothers, do not choose to have the minds of children. Instead, be free of malice like infants, but be mature in your minds.

²²So be doers of the Word, and not listeners only, deceiving yourselves.

¹¹And the same one granted that some would be Apostles, and some Prophets, yet truly others evangelists, and others pastors and teachers, ¹²for the sake of the perfection of the saints, by the work of the ministry, in the edification of the body of Christ, ¹³until we all meet in the unity of faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, as a perfect man, in the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ. ¹⁴So may we then no longer be little children, disturbed and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the wickedness of men, and by the craftiness which deceives unto error.

¹⁴And those which fell among thorns are those who have heard it, but as they go along, they are suffocated by the concerns and riches and pleasures of this life, and so they do not yield fruit.

⁹Then, too, from the day when we first heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and requesting that you be filled with the knowledge of his will, with all wisdom and spiritual understanding, ¹⁰so that you may walk in a manner worthy of God, being pleasing in all things, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹being strengthened in every virtue, in accord with the power of his glory, with all patience and longsuffering, with joy, ¹²giving thanks to God the Father, who has made us worthy to have a share in the portion of the saints, in the light.

²Like newborn infants, desire the milk of reasonableness without guile, so that by this you may increase unto salvation,

¹⁰⁵Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my paths.

¹⁹And this is the judgment: that the Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness more than light. For their works were evil. ²⁰For everyone who does evil hates the Light and does not go toward the Light, so that his works may not be corrected. ²¹But whoever acts in truth goes toward the Light, so that his works may be manifested, because they have been accomplished in God.”

¹⁵Therefore, as many of us as are being perfected, let us agree about this. And if in anything you disagree, God will reveal this to you also.

²And do not choose to be conformed to this age, but instead choose to be reformed in the newness of your mind, so that you may demonstrate what is the will of God: what is good, and what is well-pleasing, and what is perfect.

¹⁵Did not One make her, and is she not the remainder of his spirit? And what does one seek, except offspring of God? So then, preserve your spirit, and do not despise the wife of your youth.

³¹But these things have been written, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and so that, in believing, you may have life in his name.

⁶Now, we do speak wisdom among the perfect, yet truly, this is not the wisdom of this age, nor that of the leaders of this age, which shall be reduced to nothing.

⁴and patience brings a work to perfection, so that you may be perfect and whole, deficient in nothing.

⁹But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, an acquired people, so that you may announce the virtues of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

¹And so, brothers, I was not able to speak to you as if to those who are spiritual, but rather as if to those who are carnal. For you are like infants in Christ. ²I gave you milk to drink, not solid food. For you were not yet able. And indeed, even now, you are not able; for you are still carnal. ³And since there is still envy and contention among you, are you not carnal, and are you not walking according to man? ⁴For if one says, “Certainly, I am of Paul,” while another says, “I am of Apollo,” are you not men? But what is Apollo, and what is Paul? ⁵We are only the ministers of him in whom you have believed, just as the Lord has granted to each of you. ⁶I planted, Apollo watered, but God provided the growth.