“…[F]or if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.”  (Galatians 1)

“Readers, this article will seek to answers many unanswered, but easily answerable questions. The passage tells us why politicians and celebrities are so off track and always on the wrong side of issues?” Celebrities and politicians are often wrong because they are overwhelmed with the need to be man pleasers. Their problem….they are always pleasing the wrong people and I doubt that even they believe the insane and illogical statements that they pronounce and proclaim before cameras.  I think it is a “catch 22.”

This is the “catch 22,” The politicians / the celebrated / idolized persons speak their unrighteous lies because their fan base believes the them. The fan base believes them because they know nothing else. Therefore the fan base accepts what they are told with out any qualification or thinking for themselves.  They are told to believe what they are told and they fan base,therefore believes what they are told time and time again and the celebrated person keeps speaking non-sense because they think this is what the base wants and believes. If the celebrated persons would stop the speaking non-sense, the sycophantic base would not know what to think or what to believe. It really is a vicious and damaging circle.

With all that said, here are the things I understand one should never do: 1. Congratulate a heavy set woman on her pregnancy because she may not be pregnant.  2. Ask a woman her age. 3. Pull on Batman’s cape. I….err rather, he doesn’t like that.

We are going to break the (2nd) second rule but not in a way you might think.  In this article and maybe a few subsequent article we will ask your age…not as in when were you born but rather how old are you, spiritually. Some persons can say they were born again many, many years ago but not have aged spiritually…they may still be a spiritual infant of toddler. While others may have been saved only a few years, yet they have matured, spiritually, to an older spiritual age. So we will seek to investigate (DV) our spiritual age through is article.

Allow me to be clear and explain whay I said above so that there is no confusion. There are example in Scripture that will clarify. Bezaleel from Exodus is an example. God “downloaded” knowledge into Bezaleel in an instant what it took others years to learn through experience and many years of on the job. Paul is another example, God gave Paul a great amount of knowledge and understanding that the (11) eleven other disciples spent (3) three years learning. Another example is the imputed righteousness of Christ. Christ lived a righteous on this earth for (33) thirty-three years and we that are saved spent years racking up our sins, yet in a period of hours on Calvary and only moments on our knees did God transfer our sins upon Him and His righteousness to you and Me and all that have been and will be saved.

Therefore, spiritual age has nothing to do with our physical age or the years we have been saved. Our spiritual age is determined by our time spent with Christ. Let me carify with another example. We have seen elderly saints that are still spiritual toddlers and we have seen young persons that are spiritually ancient. Age is determined by one’s growth (or aging) in the grace and the knowledge of Christ. We have met elderly saints that are years younger, spiritually, than ourselves. There are elder saints that are still wasting their time on do’s and don’ts than on growing in their knowledge of God and His grace.

Okay, Methinks we have claified our points and remarks. Let us move on to determining our spiritual age and ways to spiritually mature in Christ. We trust that saints will not be offended by what is written and read. We are simply going to speak on Biblical principle and truths.

Since you brought up the sublect of being offended, let’s discuss that subject… or as Eddie Murphy would put it as he mimicks Buckwheat on SNL, ” OOO’tay.
Reader,
1. If you are a Christ-ian and you are easily offended or look for ways to be offended you are not a mature believer. Yep! You are being called down to the ring. If you are the type that is easily offended and even goes so far as to look for offenses, you are a spiritual infant. If your spiritual self or your spiritual senses goes off easily or bothered by little or even big things, you are not spiritually mature. The spiritually mature experience a peace that passes all understanding. The spiritual mature rests in the knowledge that God knows. This is one way one turns the other cheek. The mature Christ-ian soars like eagles and the immature believer runs through the mud like a chicken with it’s head cut off.

2. If you are slow to to forgive, you are spiritually young. But, before we expand on this topic let’s explain and clarify what forgiveness is and how it works. Forgiveness can not and must not take place or occur unless there is a confession of wrong doing and an acceptance of that confession, period. One cannot and must not forgive another if the offender is not remorseful or is not seeking to explain or is not seeking forgiveness. To forgive one who has not or is not sorry is immoral and unrighteous, and even ungodly for even God does not forgive lest forgiveness is sought and God is the Epitomy and Definition of moral, righteous and Godly. HOWEVER, Though you cannot, must not FORMALLY forgive an offender without their desire and request, you cannot and must not hold bitterness in your heart.
When a person that is “godlier, more moral, and more righteous” than God says, “Oh, I have already forgiven you,” if or even, when an offender seeks forgiveness, is wrong and has condoned the offense. What is really going on or what is being said is the offended party holds no bitterness inside, which is proper, but formal forgiveness has not taken place; forgiveness is a formal and humbling act of contrition and mercy, humbling on the part of the former and mercy on the part of the latter. Now let us speak to the immaturity of the unforgiver.
If you are one who does not forgive others when they seek it and would, in stead, retain the feelings of bitterness, or power or control, you art spiritually immature. Though that is bad there is a worse problem at the root of things. If you are not a ready, willing, and waiting forgiver, you have never truly understood the forgiveness of God that is found only in Christ, In fact, you, the offended, should be so ready, willing, waiting, and wanting to forgive the offender you will go to the offender and bring said offense to said offender’s attention in a loving manner. Reader, if you are not a forgiver you may not even be spiritually immature, you may have never been born again and are still under the penalty of sin. Forgiveness is one hallmark of the forgiven.

3. Prayerlessness is a sign of and a reason for spiritual immaturity. Spiritual maturity is the sign or evidence that one has spent and does spend much time with Christ through prayer, Christ conscienceness, and time in the Word of God. Christ-likeness can come only through time spent with Christ. The Proverbs tell us, he who would be wise must walk with the wise and one who will be a fool walks with other fools. Therefore, one who will be Christ-like or wills to be Christ-like must walk with Christ.

4. If you are one who delights in gossip, back biting and lives in the spirit of a judgemental attitude, you are spiritually immature. The thruth in that sentence speaks for itself, let’s move on…

5. If you delight in another’s fall, you are spiritually immature. Proverbs tells us, one should never pleasure in God’s judgement of another because God may very well turn from His wrath of the guilty and turn to you for you are guiltier that the guilty due to your pride-filled pleasure. I’ll be more clear by way of an Old Testament example. In the Old Testament there was a legal licensing for one who is called, a avenger of blood. In other words, if a man killed an innocent, a family member, a relative could be designated to hunt the killer down and take that killers life. HOWEVER, if that designated avenger of blood took a personal pleasure in the killing of the murderer then God’s justice was not served but man’s wrath and vengeance was. God therefore said, if the avenger of blood takes personal pleasure in the slaying of the murderer of an image bearer of God, He shall be called a murderer and shall be hunted. There must be no pleasure in justice except in the fact that justice has been served and civility has been retained. Justice is a concept of balance, if one takes a life, the taker of life has forfeited his or her own God-given right to life. The termination of the killer’s life is meant to bring balance back to God’s moral and ethical universe.

We’ll stop there.
God willing, we will continue with signs of spiritual immaturity and ways one can gain spiritual maturity, like how to spend all you time in prayer or to be God conscience at all time or what to pray for or about when you run out of things to pray for or about…good stuff and important stuff.
Godspeed.