UNPACK This...The Pursuit of Spiritual MaturitySample

Grow Up And Mature

At the 2023 NBA trade deadline, the Dallas Mavericks traded for Kyrie Irving, pairing him with superstar Luka Doncic.

Although this backcourt pairing was met with high expectations, things did not immediately turn out as Dallas hoped.

After the Mavs blew a 27-point lead to the Lakers shortly after the trade, head coach Jason Kidd said, “Us as a team, we have to mature… We have to grow up if we want to win a championship. I think it’s just our maturity, just understanding what we have to do at that time, just focus on that play…”

When Luka was asked about Kidd’s comments, he responded, “It’s probably true.”

There’s a strong parallel here to us becoming spiritually mature. Spiritual maturity can come over time, but sometimes even people who have been around church for a while aren’t very mature in their faith. Maybe we should be further along than we are, but we haven’t learned God’s Word.

Hebrews 5:12-14 explains, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the Word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”

If we want to “grow up,” we have to be willing to leave behind distractions and our immature ways of thinking while we seek to understand God more.

1 Corinthians 14:20 tells us: “Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults.”

God helps us grow as we know Him deeper and understand His character better. It’s not a matter of how long we’ve been a Christian. Instead, spiritual maturity comes from our hunger for Him and our pursuit of His Word.

Today let’s not remain stuck but grow up and mature in the Lord.

I’m Bryce Johnson, and you can UNPACK that!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I desire to become spiritually mature. Please help me leave behind my childish ways. I pray I will keep my eyes fixed on Jesus. I desire to grow in understanding Your Word and to know You more deeply. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.