And not only so, but we glory in tribulation also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience, experience; and experience, hope. And hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which given unto us. Romans 5:3-5
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22
We had a cherry tree near the pasture gate when I was young. Around the latter part of May, I always went to scout out the current year's crop of fruit. With the right kind of weather, and without too many bugs, the tree would be heavy with red delights. Sometimes, I got a little overeager, and didn't wait for them to get completely red. If they were almost ripe, they weren't too bad, but if they had too much green they were really sour. I knew very well that the process of ripening took time, but I couldn't quite bring myself to wait. Besides the cherries I ate, some were ruined by worms and birds, and some fell to the ground during spring storms. For the ones that made it to be ripe fruit, the wait was well worthwhile, for me if not for the cherries.
Looking at a group of Christians is kind of like looking at a bowl of cherries at various stages of ripeness. Some are still green as grass, newly formed; others are the bright red of maturity; and most are somewhere in between. Still others give the appearance of being ripe, but their insides are eaten up with the worms of worldliness and disobedience. And some, unfortunately, are rotten, and threaten to spoil everything about them.
Paul, in his letters to Timothy, was a fully mature Christian, firmly grounded and rooted in Christ. Timothy, on the other hand, was still young, and immature, in need of good counsel and guidance. He was young, not only physically but spiritually, and apparently unsure of himself. Paul told him not to give in to fear and timidity, and not to let others put him down because of his youth. (2 Timothy 1:7) Study the Scriptures, Paul said, and avoid useless intellectual debates. (1 Timothy 6:20. 2 Timothy 2:15-16, 3:16-17) He had enough confidence in his young protegee to put him charge of the church at Ephesus, one of the most important of the early churches.
By contrast, Paul's letter to the church at Corinth was a stinging indictment of spiritual immaturity. The church had already split into factions, and emphasized the outward appearance of spirituality rather than true obedience to the Spirit. They were still babies in the faith, able to consume only the milk of the Word, the bare essentials, not the meat that Paul wanted to share with them. (I Corinthians 3:1-3) When they tolerated immoral behavior, particularly the man who committed adultery with his father's wife, they felt a sense of smug spiritual superiority, but they were actually spiritually bankrupt. (I Corinthians 5:1-2)
If there's one condition that typifies Christians today it's spiritual immaturity. Many, if not most, Christians never progress beyond the experience of their salvation, while others actually slide back even from that point. Just as with the growth of our physical bodies, or the ripening of fruit, Christian maturity is a process that continues over time. It doesn't happen overnight, and it must continue if we are to grow and develop normally. It's interesting to note that Paul viewed the process of maturity as beginning with tribulations, or the tests and trials we all encounter. Both James and Peter took similar views. (James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:6-7) Unfortunately, many Christians back off when faced with problems stemming from their beliefs, and the perceived sacrifice involved in putting God ahead of our other priorities. When we look around us at the fire, our concern is being burned; God uses fire to burn away impurities. (1 Peter 1:7) When we're stretched to our limits, we focus on the pain; God sees us being enlarged so we can hold more of Him in our lives.
No one who has been a Christian for ten or twenty years should still be living on baby food, always needing help instead of giving it. To me, there are several factors by which we can measure the degree of our maturity, none of which involve comparing ourselves to other Christians. These include our knowledge of our faith, our exercise of our faith in our relationship with God and others, the extent to which our self-control is Spirit-control, and the degree to which we manifest God's love in and through our lives.
As mature Christians we should be able to give an accounting of our faith, both knowing what we believe and being able to explain it to others. (1 Peter 3:15) Among other things, we should be able to discuss and define, and in many cases explain, terms and concepts like these: agape love, atonement, creation, grace, Heaven and Hell, joy, justification, Original Sin, peace, salvation, sanctification, the blood of Christ, the offices of the Holy Spirit, and the Trinity (no one can really explain it, but we should know what the Bible teaches about it). There are many others, and they aren't just words, but the heart of what we believe. An ignorant Christian is a defeated Christian; the only weapon we have against Satan is the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.
We grow strong through exercise. We exercise our faith when we trust God from day to day, in great matters and small ones. As James said, "Faith without works is dead." (James 2:17) We're not saved by works, and we don't remain saved by works, but the things we do give evidence of our salvation to others. One thing that "keeping the faith" in times of trouble does is make our faith stronger on the other side.
It is no accident that self-control (temperance) is the last of the fruits of the Spirit Paul lists in Galatians. True maturity consists in finally giving ourselves over completely to the Spirit's direction. When the Lord controls what we think, say, and do, we have reached the final goal of Christian maturity. And what is the evidence of that control? Obedience! "If you love me," Christ said, "keep my commandments." (John 14:15) When we obey God, without questioning, we show we love him, and we show his love to others. Then, and only then, are we ripe fruit. The purpose of ripe fruit, of course, is to produce seeds to produce trees that in turn produce more fruit. That's where the pits come in….