Maturity, Spiritual Maturity

What does it mean to be mature?  More specifically, what does it mean to be spiritually mature?

Each person should aspire to attain maturity. Merriam-Webster offers a variety of definitions. When dealing with inanimate objects or concepts, it is accurate to associate age with maturity.  However, we've all met immature adults. This tells us that age is not a guarantor of maturity in the physical, psychological, or behavior realms.  In the math and science world, we could attempt to build a correlation between age and maturity, but we'd find a poor coefficient of correlation (R2). Why? Because such a study would require multi variate analysis. We'd need to identify several other variables and all of their relations, functions, and transformations combined to accurately predict maturity. Such variables would include life experiences, locale, familiar relationships, work history, etc. The more applicable definition offered by Merriam-Webster for our subject of discussion relates maturity to development which depends on the many additional variables. 

While it is difficult to predict another's level of maturity by looking at them or based solely on their age, it is simple to evaluate your own maturity level. How do you behave in difficult situations?  How do you respond under pressure?  How do you carry on the daily, routine tasks of life?

Just as each person should aspire to maturity, each believer should aspire to spiritual maturity.  While maturity depends on physical, psychological, and behavioral development, spiritual maturity depends on Christian character development.  The aspiring believer must study God's character and emulate it.  While believers and religious institutions attempt to use many exterior measuring sticks to evaluate spiritual maturity, these tools do not function properly because any exterior variable you identify is actually dependent on what the writer of Hebrews uses to define spiritual maturity.

Hebrews 5:13-14, "For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.  But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil."

If you are a believer, your primary task is to train your senses to discern good and evil, so you can behave like Christ.  Spiritual maturity cannot be measured by the absence of profanity from your vocabulary, the lack of alcohol in your consumptive diet, or the abstention from adulterous behaviors.  Spiritual maturity is not a measure of what is missing from your life; it is a measure of how Christlike you are.  Practice and train your senses to discern good from evil, and behave like Christ - that is spiritual maturity.