Spiritual Maturity

The journey of truth seeking and spiritual maturity is rewarding, but it is challenging and comes with a price.  Truth and maturity is not for the faint-hearted.  

With spiritual maturity comes increased discernment.  This discernment should be directed to the examination of every aspect of our life.  Each of our beliefs must be scrutinized and reconciled with scripture and the new maturity.  And since our actions always follow our beliefs, we must look at our actions.

Common concepts and actions of society that were once acceptable to the believer become unacceptable as maturity increases.  After all, our actions always follow our beliefs.  Profound core beliefs must affect all areas of our life, or they are not deeply held.

We are to seek purity in all parts of life. We are to be holy since our Father is holy.  We are to walk as our Savior walked.  We are ambassadors of the Most High, and we may be the only example of HIM that some people ever see.  We must not focus on intent as justification.  Our beliefs, actions, and behavior may impact the acceptance or rejection of salvation by strangers, as well as family, friends, and loved ones.

Areas of life that must be evaluated are:

Religious Practices -  

Holidays such as Halloween, Christmas, Easter, etc are unscriptural holidays.  Their origins are from pagan traditions that mainstream christianity has tried to clean up.  In spite of washing and justifying, these manmade celebrations remain tainted.

Would Messiah trick or treat, hunt Easter eggs, or kiss under the mistletoe?  Would HE condone lying to our children about flying reindeer, elves and Santa who supposedly sees all, knows all, and is omnipresent?  Compromise promotes mixing of true and false practices. True celebrations are outlined in scripture.

Roles of Men and Women -

Failure to lead and failure to follow subverts scripture’s ordained roles and duties. Men are the priest and spiritual leader of the family.  They are responsible for the teaching of their wives and children.  They cannot delegate this responsibility to the church, pastor or anyone else.  When men ignore their duties as spiritual leaders, they force their wives to seek spiritual leadership elsewhere. This decreases unity in the relationship, promotes unequal yoking, exposes the wife to potential spiritual deception, and can lead to inappropriate relationships. Women are to be subject to their husbands and be keepers at home. Having your wife work for another master can be slavery that prevents her from meeting her obligation to be her husband’s helpmate. 

Independence and Competition -

Seeking to free ourselves from submitting to others is counter to scripture and prevents proper functioning of the body of Messiah.  Rather than practicing independence, we should be practicing dependence on our Heavenly Father (faith) and interdependence on fellow believers (unity). Scripture declares that we are no longer free but slaves to our Creator…we have been bought with a price.  Striving for preeminence to elevate ourselves over others is contrary to the example of Messiah.  Jesting and sarcasm is thinly veiled aggression seeking to elevate oneself over another.

Finances -

Serving mammon and incurring dept is opposed in scripture. How we spend our money is an indicator of our priorities.  Importance on status and material possessions is a form of idolatry.  Seeking to mitigate all loss through insurance, stock\piling, or hording is counter to faith.

Investing in contemporary stock and bond markets ( “zero sum” functions that for each winner there is an equivalent loser), seems contrary to kingdom principles.  They tend to oppress others through legalized gambling and the desire for unjust gain.

Spouses having separate monies are usually signs of independence typically because of fear, selfishness, or disunity.  The principle of all things in common certainly pertains to a family’s finances.

Employment -

Our work or business must be consistent with preparation for the Kingdom.  Is your work in accordance with Kingdom principles, or simply worldly and vain?  Do we prostitute ourselves and compromise our core beliefs to earn money?  Self-employment is preferable since a boss is another master, who can force the believer to choose the expedient and compromise biblical principles. 

Education -

Fathers are scripturally charged with education of their children.  We cannot outsource education. This responsibility of teaching cannot be delegated to the government, church, village, pastor, or spouse.  Subjecting children 40 hours a week to an institution opposed to scripture, hostile to the Creator, promoting unrighteous lifestyles pollutes their minds.  It causes confusion, destroys convictions and guarantees they will be worldly.  It seriously jeopardizes their eternal life.

Dating, Courtship, Marriage -

Unchaperoned gatherings in today’s hyper-sexed world invite trouble.  Short-term relationships established in dating are preparation for failure.  Youths practice making and breaking relationships quickly and frequently. Biblical requisites for purity must be maintained before and during marriage.  Opposite gender alliances can lead to spiritual and emotional adultery. Unhealthy soul ties destroy the sanctity of marriage. YHWH hates divorce.  It is a disaster for families, exposes women to undue pressures, leaves scars on children and it disqualifies a man from certain congregational offices.  Divorce and re-marriage after knowledge of the truth is adultery.

Entertainment -

Controlling the influences and inputs in life is the only way to maintain the purity of our mind.  Once an unclean image enters our mind, it cannot be purged…it can only be ignored.  Discernment must be directed toward movies, internet, television, music, sports., etc.  We must ask not “Is it sin?” but “Is it Holy?”

Health and Nutrition -

Our bodies are the temple of YHWH, and are not be polluted with unclean foods, sugar, chemicals, or drugs.   The true believer does not succumb to drunkenness, addiction or gluttony.  He takes responsibility for maintaining the temple through diet and exercise.  

Health care is each individual’s responsibility and scriptural guidelines for healing are optimal. It should not be delegated to others with potions and knives.

Sex, Birth Control and Abortion -

Sex outside marriage is prohibited by scripture and defiles YHWH’s temple. Love and sensitivity should promote a giving attitude toward the spouse.   The marriage bed is undefiled and the body of the spouse belongs to the other.   Intimate relations should never be denied except as outlined in scripture.

The womb is opened and closed by the Creator.  We usurp that power when we use artificial measures to promote or prevent birth.

Politics -

True believers are aliens and sojourners in this world.  YHWH chooses the kings as HE sees fit.  As we exercise political influence, we may be working counter to our Creator.  Democracy is not YHWH’s way.  Believers do not want to live under rules made by the majority when scripture tells us the majority is wrong.

The lesser of two evils is still evil. If voting really worked, it would be illegal. 

Agriculture -

Each believer has a responsibility of stewardship toward the land, air and water. Extravagance in living adds to pollution and wastes natural resources.  We should shun genetically modified foods and seeds.

 

This list is not meant as an indictment to those who are striving for purity, but rather a beginning checklist of sorts that we should be using to examine ourselves in preparation for the wedding supper of the Lamb.