READ: 1 CORINTHIANS 3:4-9; 1 PETER 2:1-5

What do we need to do to become more spiritually mature? Be really self-sufficient? Come up with all the right answers to life’s questions? In 1 Peter 2:2, we are told to “like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.” This metaphor really caught my attention, and the more I thought about it, the more sense it made.

I don’t know if you’ve ever been around a hungry baby, but when they crave milk, they let everyone know it. It’s not a quiet, composed, passive desire. They aren’t saying, “Well, milk would be nice, but I could take it or leave it.” They scream. They cry. They wail. They do whatever it takes to get what they need. That’s the kind of craving for spiritual growth God wants to cultivate in us through the Holy Spirit. He wants us to cry out, passionately desiring more and more of His goodness— desiring to know Him and His love for us more deeply, to walk with Him more closely, to become more like Jesus, and to love Him and others more fiercely.

And much like a parent feeding a hungry baby, God meets that need in the context of relationship. When babies eat, whether they nurse or are given a bottle, they are held close in the arms of their caregiver as they get the nourishment they need. Likewise, the only way for us to receive spiritual nourishment from God is to draw near to Him. There’s no such thing as spiritual growth apart from relationship with God. It’s only in the context of deep, intimate relationship with Jesus that we can grow and thrive spiritually.

This truth can be both humbling and freeing. I cannot force myself to spiritually mature any more than a newborn baby can create food for themself. I have to look to Jesus and His death and resurrection. I have to receive His love and care. It is only through daily, even hourly dependence on the Holy Spirit that I can grow.

So, if I want to spiritually mature, instead of coming up with my own answers to all of life’s questions, it’s my job to cry out to our loving Father, desperate for His presence and nourishment. It’s my job to dig into His Word, the Bible. It’s my job to be sensitive and obedient to the Holy Spirit. It’s my job to invest in a community of believers, giving and receiving encouragement, comfort, love, and help. Then, it’s God’s job to make me grow. • Taylor Eising

• In what ways have you tried to become spiritually mature apart from God? What might it look like to passionately pursue relationship with God?

I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 1 Corinthians 3:6 (NIV)