THE STRUGGLE AND REWARD OF GROWING UP

Eph 4v12: 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.

We often get weary of the fight and struggle that often exists around really coming to know what is true and what is false. There are so many opinions out there that often the blinders go up, and we believe ignorance is our best weapon in order to remain founded upon what's true. While selective ignorance is sometimes wise (i.e. why would you listen to someone who preaches a false gospel?), total ignorance is extremely foolish. God has given the VARIOUS gifts of the Spirit (which means there should be more than 1 person we listen too), not only that we'll become mature in knowing Him, but also that we'll no longer by tossed back and forth by the waves of so called 'knowledge' that is bandied about so loosely and indiscriminately that people either just accept it because it seems to agree with their feelings and their view of the world, or reject EVERYTHING in order to remain what they think of as 'secure.' But notice here, and this is the real encouragement for us, is that if we really do accept the gifts as God gives them (Apostle, Prophet, Pastor etc), and go back to the Word to check whether the things they say are true, we will no longer have to fear becoming tossed here and there every time someone opens their mouths- we'll know what's true. 

The design of the gifts is not to make us feel insecure about our faith and knowledge of Him, but rather to have us GROW UP in our faith- and yes, this is surely a process. I don't know anyone who would say growing up and maturing was a piece of cake. It was often a struggle to really become an adult. But after time, and effort, we all truly become adults because we knew that we must (and that it was inevitable)- we must be equipped in order to live and operate effectively in an adult world. And just like preparation for the adult world, God gives the gifts so that we'll be prepared and equipped for the spiritual world, a world where He wants us, not only loving others and Himself, but also wisely operating in the gifts and calling He has given us, again for others and for His work and glory. 

Lastly, we must realise that growing up spiritual is INEVITABLE. Whether it occurs in this life, or in the next, when perfection comes the Word says, imperfection will disappear. There would be nothing worse in this life in that as a child we would grow up in year, but never in wisdom, knowledge or understanding. We would effectively be illegitimate and immature adults; children who walk about in an adults skin. There are those for whom, unfortunately, this exists in real life, but also spiritually too. Often they don't even know it, and this is the saddest and most dangerous reality. While the sun shines and all the world is happy, this seems fine to them, but when the night comes, watch out, only by the grace of God will they remain walking with Him. However, in all likelihood they will experience much more grief, struggle and pain working through a much tougher maturing process than they would've ever had to otherwise. And at the very worst it seems that perhaps they would harden their hearts against a God they don't understanding, and the end results of that I think we could all guess at.