From the time we were very young, we heard of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It may have been the first time we heard of these little people, but we were fascinated by them when we heard just how special and helpful they were. At some point we saw a dwarf, and we knew that these short people were very much part of our society. We may not remember all of Snow White’s helpers, but we were thrilled as we heard about Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy, and Dopey.
However, there are others who spiritually have not developed into spiritual adults, and these should be of greater concern. We enter the family of God with a new birth (John 3:5), and tragically, at this point, some fail to reach the maturity that God longs for us to have. It is amazing that sometimes “spiritual dwarfs” do not realize that they actually have grown very little as Christians.
There is that spiritual food God has for us described as either milk or strong meat (Heb. 5:12-14). God said to these Jewish Christians, “By this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles…” Their growth depended on first partaking of the milk (the first principles of God’s truths), but they had even forgotten the most fundamental aspects of truth. Understanding these simple truths is just the beginning. God says there is a time when we should grasp these matters and go even deeper in our study of His word.
Look at these words to the Christians who were not growing: “Solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (v. 14). God’s plan is for us to discover truth and use spiritual understanding to determine right and wrong. Babes in Christ, some of them who have been babes for many years, sometimes will say, “I just do not see anything wrong with this.” Their words may be true in the sense that they have not grown spiritually and are still “unskilled in the word of righteousness.” We become able to discern what is right and wrong because we exercise our spiritual judgment, which enables us to see matters so much clearer.
There are preachers who are still babes and are preaching the same kind of sermons they preached twenty years ago. There are deacons who know less about God and study His word less than they did years ago when they first became deacons. There are elders and church leaders who spend less time in personal Bible study and have stopped growing in “…the grace and knowledge of the Lord” (2 Pet. 3:18). There are members who are not growing, and there is little in their lives that will help them. Are you growing?
