Milk or Meat- Determines Babies Defeat

3 Part Series

Part 2

Hebrew 12:1...by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13. Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

As discussed in Part I of this series, While babies start out drinking milk and totally dependent on others for their care, they do eventually grow up and advance to solid foods and independence. That, unfortunately, is not always the case with baby Christians.

So how can you tell a baby Christian from a mature spirit filled Christian? A baby Christian walks in the flesh more than in the spirit. A mature Christian walks more in the spirit than in the flesh.

A baby Christian will envy and be jealous of what others get from God. A mature Christian will rejoice in the blessings that others receive.

A baby Christian looks to men for answers and often fall themselves if the man they have on a pedestal falls. A mature Christian while loving, honoring and respecting men of God, ultimately keep their eye on the Savior and are hurt but not swayed from their faithfulness in God when men fail as they recognize that men are human and not perfect.

A Baby Christian walks in works that they can see, A mature Christian walks by faith understanding that if the Word says it then it is truth.

A baby Christian walks in the flesh more than in the spirit. A mature Christian walks more in the spirit than in the flesh.

A baby Christian will envy and be jealous of what others get from God. A mature Christian will rejoice in the blessings that others receive.

A baby Christian looks to men for answers and often fall themselves if the man they have on a pedestal falls. A mature Christian while loving, honoring and respecting men of God, ultimately keep their eye on the savior and are hurt but not swayed from their faithfulness in God when men fail as they recognize that men are human and not perfect.

Baby Christians rarely read and pray for themselves receiving only the spiritual food they are fed by others. Mature Christians look to God’s Word for wisdom and have a consistent prayer and devotional life. A baby Christian goes to the alter routinely to get saved. A mature Christian understands God’s grace in his salvation and seeks to grow to the next level of being a soul winner.

A baby Christian follows every doctrine that comes along and is easily led astray – the Word describes them as being tossed here and there carried by every wind of doctrine. A mature Christian is grounded in God’s Word and has the spirit of discernment of good and evil.

A baby gets his feelings hurt easily and ends up running from church to church looking for a place where they will be “appreciated”. A mature Christian will examine their hearts and pray that God will create in them a pure heart and renew a right spirit within them.

A baby will look for the “perfect” church. A mature Christian realizes that no man is perfect and therefore no church perfect. Instead we are forgiven and expected to forgive. Where weakness is therefore God’s grace ever more abounds..

These are just a few ways to tell a baby Christian from a mature one. It is not the place of a mature Christian to judge a baby Christian but it is important to recognize the difference in order to, understand and be able to love, nurture, and disciple them.

To truly walk in the will of God you cannot exist on milk. If you are a baby Christian drink milk until you are strong but then move onto the meat!

If you don’t you will remain an immature and ineffective Christian easily led into false doctrine and captivity. If you only drink milk you will never eat the meat and solid spiritual food

needed to scrape the tarter of disobedience and sin off of your life.

So what is meat and how do we eat it? Meat is the spiritual principles of God. It is the fruits of the Holy Spirit. It is a deeper understanding of the nature and grace of God. It is obtaining a place in your life where God is first, where He reigns supreme in all areas.

To be continued....

Rita Sanders