SPIRITUAL
MATURITY, GROWTH

AN ACORN is a small little thing—a nut to be exact. That little acorn goes and gets planted under the ground. It’s hard to believe that the potential of a full-sized oak tree is in that tiny thing, but resident in that nut is growth potential that’s phenomenal.912

Matt. 13:8; Mark 4:8; Luke 8:8

AN OAK tree is strong because of its roots. Its roots go way, way down. So whenever a storm brews, an oak tree is not intimidated. Now, your house might be intimidated but not the oak tree sitting in front of it. This tree has a solid foundation.

In the same way, the deeper your spiritual roots go, the more secure you can be when storms come your way. The spiritual maturity that occurs when you grow as a Christian keeps you rooted and able to withstand difficulties when they come your way.913

[Trials, Endurance during]

Matt. 7:24–25; Luke 6:48

A MAN named Frederick Handley Page, a pioneer in aviation, was flying in the Middle East one day. He had one of his best airplanes. During his journey, he was going across Arabia. Unknown to him, a huge rat had been attracted by the smell of the food that had been put in the cargo of the plane and managed to get aboard. On the next flight, Page heard the sickening sound of gnawing in his small plane. He could tell that it was a rodent. His heart began to pound when he visualized the damage that could be done to the mechanisms of the controls of the plane, and that this rodent could gnaw right through some critical lines. The question is, what could he do, because he was flying solo? Page did an amazing thing. He remembered something he learned way back in school. Rats can’t survive high altitudes. When you go higher, rats can’t breathe. And so he began to climb. He began to rise higher, listening intently for the gnawing sounds to cease. The sounds did stop. When he arrived at his destination, he found the rat lying dead behind the cockpit.

Many of us have the rat of sin gnawing at our lives. We have the rat of immorality nipping at us or the rat of improper language biting at us. We have the rats of marital destruction destroying us. We have the rats of secularism and worldliness devouring us, about to cause our spiritual planes to crash. But there is something you can do. You can climb higher in your spiritual life! Increasing your altitude in Christ can help ward off the schemes of the Devil! 914

[Sin, Dealing with]

Rom. 8:13; Col. 3:5; 2 Peter 3:18

GOD designed your life as a Christian to get younger on the inside as you get older on the outside.915

2 Cor. 4:16