Are you mature enough by Jacqueline and Marcel Bruff

"Patience is bitter but the rewards are sweet"

A young tree can grow fast, but only a mature tree can produce fruit that will last.

We live in a generation of fast pace, quickness and haste. We want to serve, to build, to go to get things immediately, wait, patience, and taking time are not cherished. Peter said. “Lord, I am ready to go to prison with you, and even to die with you.”Luke 22:33

But Jesus answered with a truth we must hear: “Peter, let me tell you something. Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.”Luke 22:34

Peter had enthusiasm. What he didn’t have yet was maturity.

ZEAL WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE RUINS US

Proverbs 19:2 “Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes.”

We can be busy for God but not walking with God. We can be leading, talking, posting, comparing but if the root isn’t deep, the fruit won’t last.

Proverbs 19:3 warns us: “People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the Lord.”

That’s what immaturity does. We make decisions in haste, compare “primary level” with “college level,” and then blame God when the results don’t match.

A young tree can grow fast, but only a mature tree can produce fruit that will last. John 15:16 “I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.”

Zeal pushes us forward. Knowledge, wisdom, and testing keep us from falling over.

TESTING REVEALS WHAT ZEAL HIDES.

Satan asked to sift Peter like wheat. Luke 22:31

Jesus didn’t stop the sifting. He prayed through it: “But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.”Luke 22:32

Notice the order:

1. Sifted

2. Repent and turn

3. Then strengthen others

You cannot strengthen what you have not survived.

You cannot pour out what you have not been filled with.

You cannot lead others to maturity if you are still comparing, still in haste, still full of zeal without root.

The test doesn’t come to destroy you. It comes to show you where you really are.

3. THE STANDARD WE USE, WE WILL BE JUDGED BY.

Matthew 7:1-2 “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.”

Immaturity demands from others what it cannot produce in itself.

Maturity asks: “God, where am I in this? What do You want to grow in me first?”

Are we expecting college-level fruit from a primary-level walk?

Are we expecting others to be faithful, patient, and forgiving at a level we haven’t reached yet?

God isn’t asking for perfect people. He’s asking for growing people. People willing to do the detailed assessment of their life and say, “Lord, teach me, grow me, mature me.”

3 REFLECTIONS.

1. Am I building with zeal or with wisdom?

Zeal starts the work. Wisdom finishes it.

James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”

Before your next decision, pause. Ask: Is this God’s timing or my haste?

2. Have I been sifted and sent back to strengthen?

Like Peter, we all have a denial moment. The question is: did we repent and turn?

God doesn’t waste the sifting. He uses it so you can look at another brother and say, “I’ve been there. Let me help you stand.”

Galatians 6:1 “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.”

3. What standard am I using?

If I’m harsh with others, I’ll be harsh with myself. If I’m gracious, God will be gracious with me.

Luke 6:38 “give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Check your measuring cup. Is it mercy or comparison?

Dear Heavenly Father,

We come to You asking for spiritual maturity.

Search us and know us. Teach us the places where we are in haste, where we are comparing, where we are expecting fruit from roots that aren’t there yet.

Lord Jesus, thank You that even when Peter failed, You prayed for him. Pray for us now that our faith would not fail.

When we are sifted, hold us. When we fall, raise us. And when we are restored, use us to strengthen our brothers.

Teach us to build with wisdom, to forgive with patience, and to judge with the same mercy we want to receive.

Make us mature trees that bear fruit that will last for Your glory.

In Jesus’ name, Amen. Marcel and Jackie Bruff. @walkgoodinchrist