Spiritual Maturity is Not a Solitary Pursuit - Daily Hope with Rick Warren - January 16, 2017

Spiritual Maturity Is Not a Solitary Pursuit
By Rick Warren

“Put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24 NIV).

As I mentioned yesterday, your character is essentially the sum of your habits; it is how you habitually act. The Bible says, “Put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24 NIV).

God uses his Word, people, and circumstances to mold us. All three are indispensable for character development. God’s Word provides the truth we need to grow, God’s people provide the support we need to grow, and circumstances provide the environment to practice Christlikeness.

If you study and apply God’s Word, connect regularly with other believers, and learn to trust God in difficult circumstances, I guarantee you will become more like Jesus.

Many people assume all that is needed for spiritual growth is Bible study and prayer. But some issues in life will never be changed by Bible study or prayer alone. God uses people. He usually prefers to work through people rather than perform miracles so that we will depend on each other for fellowship. He wants us to grow together.

In many religions, the people considered to be the most spiritually mature and holy are those who isolate themselves from others in mountaintop monasteries, uninfected by contact with other people.

But this is a gross misunderstanding. Spiritual maturity is not a solitary, individual pursuit!

You cannot grow to Christlikeness in isolation. You must be around other people and interact with them. You need to be part of a church and community.

Why? Because true spiritual maturity is all about learning to love like Jesus, and you can’t practice being like Jesus without being in relationship with other people.

Remember, it’s all about love — loving God and loving others.

Play today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>

Talk It Over

• How has God used people in your life to help you grow in spiritual maturity?
• What keeps you from pursuing authentic, transparent community with other believers?
• In what ways does knowing how to love like Jesus help you love people better?

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Pastor Rick teaches 7 biblically based lessons in Transformed that will help you experience a real transformation from the inside out this year.

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This devotional © 2017 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

You can also listen to Rick Warren on OnePlace.com.