What’s wrong with this picture?  It’s both blurry and incomplete—as in, we can’t see everything and what we can see is unclear.

Life can get that way sometimes—situations, events, long-term circumstances, relationships, and other “externals”.  Then there’s the “internals”—our thinking, logic, understanding, feelings, etc.

Clarity and maturity go hand in hand.  The more we mature—emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, the more clarity comes to our lives, both externally and internally.

Conversely, the more we gain external and internal clarity in life, the more it helps us to become mature.  Never mind which comes first—we need both of these together if we’re going to have either!

Notice that the word “mature” also means “complete”—nothing lacking, whole.

Webster’s Dictionary defines maturity as, “…ripeness; full development;…”

The Biblical Hebrew used the word “Kelach”, translated as “maturity”—meaning “firm or rugged strength”—which derives from a root meaning “to be complete; full”.

The Biblical Greek for maturity, teleiótēs (“consummation“) denotes “completion (consummation), in its cumulative sense, i.e. built on what has to precede and also supports the stage that must come next.” It “particularly then suggests the combination of truths (stages of spiritual growth), the culmination of which also supports future consummation.” 

In other words, we become mature, complete, even perfect, by growing in stages and building on our previous growth!

Think of learning algebra, or body-building.  We won’t be ready for calculus, or for 100-kilo weight-lifting, unless or until we build up to it.

For spiritual maturity, we find a good example of this in Heb. 6:1—

“Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity (teleiótēs)…”

Why is this important? Because in order to become mature, we HAVE TO KEEP GROWING!  Which means CHANGE HAS TO HAPPEN!  And we can’t stop growing and changing until we’re COMPLETE!

How do people know when children are growing up?  By the changes they see in them—the child gets bigger, taller, more knowledgeable, and (hopefully) more mature in their behavior, etc.

As adults, we also define and demonstrate spiritual and emotional growth by good changes, such as:  deeper prayer life; more patience; less reactionary; greater joy; more peace; etc.

But how do we get this?  If we had to change and grow on our own power we wouldn’t get very far, and would just keep reverting back to our old ways, frustrated with the lack of progress. 

Thankfully we have help. Phil. 1:6 promises us,

“He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (in other words, until we pass into eternity or He comes back).

This reminds me of “transformer” toys—the ones where kids can change the toy from cars to robots, or superheroes into dinosaurs, or other cool things.  Who does the changing?  The kid!  The toys can’t transform themselves—it takes “outside” hands with enough power and skill to do that.

Now, the analogy breaks down in that we people aren’t inanimate, passive, objects.  But where it applies is that we can and need to continually put ourselves in the Lord’s loving and capable hands to transform us!

What happens if we decide, “Hey, I’m good enough the way I am! Others can take me or leave me, but don’t ask me to change!”?

We’ll end up like my iPhone SE 2020 when I ordered it last week.  I asked the “expert” if I would need to also order a new case, or would my iPhone 6s case work well enough.

He told me my iPhone 6s case would fit the iPhone SE 2020, since those phones are the same size  It does, in general structure.  But when I put it on, I later discovered it covers part of the camera opening, so that the bottom-right corner (1/3) is blocked.  The result? —Limited perspective— not seeing the whole picture, and blurriness in what does show up.

This happens when we try to continue in our old ways, even as we learn more truth. If we don’t CHANGE AND APPLY that truth, the Holy Spirit can’t do His full work in us– so transformation and perspective will never be complete.

Do we really want people to look at us and say “What’s wrong with that picture?”

Of course not!  So, with the Lord’s help, let us…

“…put off the old self… and put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”  Col. 3:9-10

–Even better than a new “case”, this will make us be and see a better picture 🙂