Psalm 119:71 – It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn Your statutes.
THEME OF THE DAY. HOW WOULD WE KNOW? I often ask myself self-examination questions like this, “Jim, are you growing in grace? Are you getting closer to Christ? Is the Fruit of the Spirit blossoming more in you now than last week, month, or year? Is spiritual maturity something you recognize happening in you?” These are difficult questions. Not in and of themselves. They are difficult because they require honesty, unhurried time with the Lord to mediate and listen to His voice through His Word answering them. They also are difficult because we need another input outside of ourselves because of the treachery and self-deception in our hearts (Jeremiah 17:9). If we do self-examination alone, we easily give ourselves a pass or just do a surface scan of our lives and end up saying things like, “Well, I am not perfect, but I think I am growing as a Christian.” That type of vague spiritual assessment produces nothing of value, and actually because of it vagueness can lead us to a backslidden condition fairly quick. What we need is a close spiritual friend or a healthy spiritual relationship with our spouses who love us enough to help us with objective self-examination.
So, what are some signs that we may see in our lives that we are growing in Christ and exhibiting spiritual maturity? Here are a few. First, we are loving the things of the world less and the things of eternity more (1 John 2:15-17). One of the things God will do, if we are not quenching and grieving His Spirit, is wean us from the world. We will grow in dissatisfaction of this world, let go of the things of this world, and will find greater pleasure in the things of the other world far more than this one.
Another sign of spiritual maturity is an increasing desire and pursuit of being like Christ. Or we may say, “A love for holiness is gripping us with force” (2 Corinthians 7:1). If we are growing spiritually, the Spirit of God will consistently and deeply create a hunger to be more and more like Christ. We will hate sin more, avoid sin more, fight sin more, and all because we want to be like our holy Lord Jesus.
A third sign of the presence of spiritual growth in us will be our love for Christ’s church and His people. Healthy Christians love Sundays. They won’t compromise Sundays. They won’t choose worldliness over the Lord’s House and worship. They know God’s heart toward His Day and people and Sundays are the high days, and best days of the week for spiritually mature Christians (Psalm 27:4).
One more sign of spiritual maturity is found in today’s scripture. It is our attitude and response to suffering. The Psalmist said, “It is good that I suffer.” How could he say that? Because he knew it was God’s tool of love to teach him obedience – “that I might learn Your statutes.” We get an immediate assessment of our spiritual health by our attitude and action toward suffering. Now the proper attitude isn’t one of gritting our teeth and enduring the season of suffering. No, not at all. In fact, we are to rejoice in our sufferings. Notice the reaction of the early church when they were suffering for Christ and their testimony of following Him – “And when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name” (Acts 5:40-41). They didn’t simply endure suffering; they rejoiced in it. Only Christ’s people, filled with the Spirit, and growing in grace may respond like this.
How would we know if we are growing Christians? Many ways; our detachment from the world, desire for holiness, and our love for church are three ways. A fourth one is our attitude and action toward suffering. May the Lord find all of us doing healthy self-examination and find ourselves growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus.
PRAYER: “Father, when I am called to suffer, help me to respond in the way that pleases You”
QUOTE: “One of the surest ways to determine how spiritually mature we are is to look at our attitude toward suffering”