Trailblazin Ministries Blog

Faith

Spiritual Maturity

Written by LaRosa Johnson
Sunday, 15 April 2007
Filed under: Faith, LaRosa, Ministry

Over the past few days and weeks, I've had quite a few people approach me saying that they have noticed how mature I am for my age. For some, they are just getting to know me and have seen what I do with Trailblazin Ministries and have come to me saying various things to state that they are impressed with my level of maturity. For others, who have known me longer, they have come to tell me how they've noticed the change in me and the solid foundation that I am now standing on (while others would probably now call me a heretic LOL). On the one hand, it is quite humbling to know that others are noticing the changes that are happening in my life as a result of my pursuit of holiness; on the other hand, it is quite an awakening in many areas of my life because I don't feel like I'm at the level that many people "think" that I'm currently at.

I don't mind calling names here... last night I was talking with Victor Padilla (aka DJ MVP of HCR.fm) and, in passing, he had made mention about how he noticed my spiritual growth & maturity over the past year or two, especially in regard to doctrine. He had noticed that a year or two prior, I was pretty wishy-washy in my theology, but now I'm pretty solid on the fundamentals and what I no longer hold to. He went on to say that the devotions I wrote were very challenging and wished that he was able to spend more time with the Lord and get intimate with Him. It meant a lot to hear that from him, considering I've been on his site's forum taking part in a few theological discussions and had my views become much more bibliocentric (is that even a word???) instead of simply what I had been taught from some pastor. But even with that, I had to admit to my brother that I spend nowhere near the amount of time with God that he thinks I do and that I have to challenge myself to spend more quality time with the Father. Even at church this morning, one of the members came up saying that they had visited my site and wished they had the same kind of maturity at my age. I couldn't say anything more than thank you because I didn't know what else to say.

Admittedly, I do acknowledge that I have grown significantly in the Lord since my accepting Christ almost thirteen years ago, and especially more so in the past year or two. Even with that, though, I still don't feel I deserve the "praise" that I receive because I'm nowhere near where I want to be. I could much firmer in my doctrinal stance or spend more time with the Lord; I could be more consistent in Trailblazin Ministries or I could have learned Greek or Hebrew by now. It really makes me think of passages like Colossians 1:28 and Hebrews 6:1 that admonish us to grow in the faith and become mature, even 1 Corinthians 13:11-12. I know where I am, and I know that I can do better.

Nevertheless, I find and take encouragement from statements like that because it lets me know that even in the midst of who I am now, I'm doing something right and I'm not as messed us as the LaRosa that people used to see. Yeah, I've still got issues, but with added encouragement such as this, it gives me the extra motivation to live a life of holiness and of putting to death the misdeeds of the flesh on a daily basis because I know that people are watching me. Truly, Timothy Brindle is correct when he says that he is able to kill sin by finding his enjoyment in the Lord and His Word; the more we are able to do that, we will undoubtedly increase in our maturity because we will be made to look more like Him. Amen.