Grow Up: Childish | 1 Corinthians 13:11

Grow Up: Childish | 1 Corinthians 13:11

As followers of Christ, faith was never meant to remain stagnant. The goal of the Christian life is maturity. In the opening message of our Grow Up series, we are challenged to examine the areas where spiritual immaturity is keeping us from becoming the believers God has called us to be. Paul reminds us that childishness is not simply about age—it is revealed in the way we think, reason, and respond. True spiritual growth begins when Christ transforms the way we think.

Key Themes

• The call of every believer is maturity. A mature believer is one who endures, remains faithful through testing, and continues fighting the good fight of faith until Christ returns.
• You cannot mature in Christ while reasoning without Christ. Spiritual maturity begins with allowing Christ and His Word to become the foundation of how we think, process information, and make decisions.
• Childish behavior begins in the mind. Paul teaches that childishness is not simply external behavior—it begins in flawed reasoning that has not been submitted to Christ.
• Exposure shapes spiritual development. What we continually feed ourselves eventually shapes how we think, how we reason, and ultimately how we live. What we expose ourselves to can either strengthen maturity or stunt spiritual growth.
• The mind must be intentionally renewed. Transformation does not happen accidentally. Walking in the Spirit requires intentionally rejecting the patterns of the flesh and allowing Christ to renew the mind.
• What feeds your flesh will fight your maturity. We cannot continue entertaining worldly desires while expecting spiritual growth. What we consistently feed will eventually shape what we become.

Key Scripture

1 Corinthians 13:11 1 Corinthians 14:20 Romans 8:5 Galatians 5:19

Takeaway

Spiritual maturity does not happen by accident—it happens when we intentionally allow Christ to transform the way we think.

If we continue feeding childish desires, we will continue producing immature faith.

What feeds your flesh will fight your maturity.