Discover the importance of growing in spiritual maturity through Hebrews 5:11-14, and learn practical steps to deepen your faith and understanding of God’s Word.
Scripture: Hebrews 5:11-14 (ESV)
“About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 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.”
Think of a baby learning to eat. At first, they can only handle milk. As they grow, they move on to pureed foods, then soft solids, and finally, they can enjoy a full range of adult foods. Imagine if a ten-year-old still only drank milk. We’d worry about their growth and development. This is sadly the picture many Christians evoke even today. It used to be true that the bear minimum a Christian would do everyday is to read a psalm, plus a portion of scripture and pray with their family. Now we often don’t read the Bible at all. Is it any wonder then that much of our faith has become watered down? It is watered down, because we are still babies in the faith.
The thing is, this problem isn’t new. The writer of Hebrews uses this picture of a drinking milk like babies to address the spiritual condition of the recipients of his letter. He expresses frustration because they have become “dull of hearing.” By this point, they should have been mature enough to teach others, yet they still needed to be taught the basics. They were spiritually stunted, stuck on milk when they should have moved on to solid food.
Our problem is similar. Many of us remain in spiritual infancy. We stay comfortable with basic teachings and avoid the deeper, more challenging aspects of our faith. This stunts our growth and hinders our ability to discern and teach others. Jesus calls us to grow and mature in our faith. He provides us with the foundation—the “milk”—but he also leads us into deeper understanding, the “solid food.” Through his teachings and the work of the Holy Spirit, we are equipped to grow in wisdom and discernment.
Maturity in Christ isn’t just about knowing more but also about living out what we learn. It’s about training our powers of discernment through constant practice. This means actively applying God’s Word to our daily lives, making decisions that align with His will, and learning to distinguish good from evil. To grow in spiritual maturity, we need to engage with God’s Word deeply and consistently. We should challenge ourselves to move beyond the basics and seek a fuller understanding of Scripture. This involves prayer, study, and application. It’s about being doers of the Word, not just hearers.
That is why I started writing this devotional series. To help us chew the meat together and move beyond the milk.
Who do you have you can share the meat with?
Prayer:
Lord, help me to grow in my faith. Guide me from spiritual infancy to maturity. Give me a hunger for your Word and the wisdom to apply it in my life. Train my powers of discernment so that I can distinguish good from evil and live according to your will. Amen.
Spiritual Challenge:
Identify an area in your life where you can grow in spiritual maturity. Commit to studying a specific book of the Bible or topic in depth. Seek out resources, join a study group, or find a mentor to help you dive deeper into your faith.