Mapping Out Your Spiritual Maturity and Growth

How do you go about measuring and directing your spiritual growth and maturity? It may even seem as though trying to measure your spirituality is an exercise in either futility or vanity. Why would you want to measure your spiritual maturity, and wouldn’t that lead you to despair or toward pride?

These are all valid questions and concerns. A fruitful Christian life requires that you know not only what your goal is but knowing how to get there and how to tell if you’re making progress.

Tracing a path for your growth and maturity.

What is the Christian life all about? One answer is that it’s about becoming more like Jesus in every aspect of one’s life. We are to have the same mind as that of Christ (Philippians 2:1-11), and the pursuit of a life of spiritual maturity through the power of the Holy Spirit produces certain fruit in a person’s life such as love, patience, kindness, and self-control (Galatians 5:16-26; Ephesians 4:11-32).

One way to trace a path for your growth and maturity is to consider if you are growing in virtue, that is, in certain characteristics or qualities that mark a life lived by the power of the Holy Spirit. Desiring this life is not a return to the form of thinking where we believe we are saved and become acceptable to God because of the good things we’ve done or are doing.

Rather, we are saved by grace through faith – these are gifts of God toward us. But God saves us for something, and that something is to become more like Jesus, to nurture certain qualities within us (Ephesians 2:1-10).

There are seven virtues to consider that can help set your direction for growth. Remember, this is just one way to do this. You could also, for instance, consider the fruit of the Spirit as described in Galatians 5, or you could reflect on the various qualities Jesus displayed throughout the gospels as indicators of what spiritual growth and maturity look like. Some virtues to consider include the following:

Prudence.

This is, as C.S. Lewis put it, practical common sense, or “taking the trouble to think out what you are doing and what is likely to come of it”.

Temperance.

This is going the right length when enjoying pleasures, and no further.

Justice.

One could call this ‘fairness’, and it includes qualities such as honesty and keeping your promises

Fortitude.

This refers to courage – the courage to face danger, and the courage to hang on when you’re under difficult circumstances.

Chastity.

This refers to sexual purity, and the celebration of married life as the appropriate space to enjoy sexual pleasure.

Forgiveness.

This refers to the act of relinquishing feelings of revenge or getting even toward someone who’s wronged you or one you might call an enemy.

Humility.

This can be described as self-forgetfulness. As the late pastor and author Tim Keller once said, “The essence of gospel humility is not thinking more of myself or thinking less of myself, it is thinking of myself less.”

As you live life, are you growing in these areas, whether by leaps and bounds or in small steps? There may be setbacks, but the goal of looking like Jesus is worth pursuing wholeheartedly.

Stepping forward in your spiritual maturity and growth.

In Romans 12 Paul wrote, “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.” (Romans 12:3, ESV)

The Christian life is a lifelong journey. Along the way, one must continue to preach the gospel to themselves and continue to believe it, in seasons of faithfulness or otherwise.

Christ has done all that is needed to rescue us from sin and enable us to live a life of freedom in Him (Galatians 5:1-16). We walk in that freedom by the power of the Spirit, and we grow in sometimes small and imperceptible ways to look like the children of God we were saved to be.

There are many hindrances and difficulties along the path to spiritual maturity and growth. Our sin can hinder us, as does apathy, or other challenges that come our way. Sometimes you feel overwhelmed and struggle to overcome these challenges, such as anxiety, depression, difficulty connecting with others, a difficult marriage, or low self-regard. You don’t have to face these challenges on your own.

With the help of a Christian counselor, or through walking with a Christian life coach, you can begin addressing these challenges as you move toward maturity and grow deeper in your walk with the Lord. These individuals can help you gain insight into the resources the Lord has placed at your disposal and ways to use them to meet your goals.

If you desire maturity and to look more like Jesus, reach out to a Christian counselor or life coach to embrace the fullness of a gospel-centered and mature spiritual life.