Key Verse: “But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head—Christ. 16 From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part.” (Ephesians 4:15-16 CSB)
Before you start doing anything, it’s usually helpful to have a goal in mind. What exactly am I trying to accomplish? What is the destination I’m trying to reach? Once you’ve determined your objective, then you can work backwards in order to make sure you’re successful in achieving it.
The same is true when it comes to our journey of faith in Jesus both individually and as a community of believers. Knowing and sharing a common goal is critically important for fulfilling our mission and remaining united together as one, even in the midst of our diversity.
So what is our common goal? What is the objective around which all true believers in Jesus should be united? In Ephesians 4, Paul wrote that what we must be reaching for as saints or believers in Christ is “unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into maturity” (v.13). Our common goal should be the pursuit of the knowledge of Jesus Christ that leads to greater maturity in Him.
What does this kind of maturity look like? In a word, it looks like Jesus. Paul wrote that we are to be “growing into a maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness” (v.13). Spiritually maturity is not determined by comparing ourselves to those around us. It’s measured by Jesus and how fully we are becoming like Him. To know and be like Him more and more is what we all should be striving for each and every day.
In fact, our maturity is one of the primary reasons why God began His redemptive in our lives in the first place. Paul wrote, “For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29). He also said, “God chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him” (Ephesians 1:4). God saved us by His mercy and grace so that we could become more and more like Jesus. This is what maturity looks like. It’s the pursuit of Christlikeness.
Why is maturity such an important objective to keep at the forefront of our individual faith and our journey together as believers? Paul told us that it serves as part of our protection. “Then we will no longer be little children,” he wrote, “tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit” (v.14). When we make spiritual maturity our primary pursuit, it keeps us from getting off track or being led astray.
This common goal also “promotes the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part” (v.16). The more we mature in Christ, the stronger and healthier we become as we serve Him together.
What are you striving for right now? What is the end goal that you have in mind? Make maturity in Jesus your primary pursuit. Seek to know and follow Him today more fully with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Prayer: Jesus, I want to grow in every way in my life to be more like you. Help me to not be led astray by other things. Grant me a growing desire to know you more. Lead me into greater depths of maturity in you. Amen.
Author: Jonathan Miller has served in pastoral roles for more than 13 years in churches in Barrie, Oakville and Burlington, Ontario. He currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer at Prison Fellowship Canada, a ministry that mobilizes and equips local churches to engage in the restorative work of prisoners, ex-prisoners, their families, and victims across Canada. Jon holds degrees from McMaster University and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He and his wife Adrienne have been married since 2004, and live in Burlington, Ontario with their 4 children. Jon’s greatest passion is to know Jesus and to see lives transformed by Him and for Him.
