By Angel L. Sotomayor, Jr. CPA

 

Ephesians 4:11-13 reads:

 

“11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—”

 

The Lord wants us to grow and mature. Spiritual maturity is the goal of Jesus calling those in His Body to the ministry. Our standard of maturity is Christ.

If we read on, we see some results of maturity in verses 14 and 15: “that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—”

 

Are there parallels between spiritual growth and physical growth?

In the “physical” there is babyhood, childhood and manhood.

  • 1 Peter 2:2 states: “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,”
  • Eph. 4:14 states “that we should no longer be children.”
  • Verse 13 in the ESV says “13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,”

Paul and Peter are both speaking of spiritual maturity. And it happens by feeding on the Word and “speaking the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15).

Esteeming earthly things lightly is a characteristic of spiritual manhood.  An immature believer will be moved by materialism – but a mature man will esteem earthly things lightly. Let’s look at Moses, as an example. In Hebrews 11:24-26, we read: “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.”

When Moses grew up, he got to the point where the material things were not moving him. The more the spirit man grows, the more we see things with spiritual eyes. Moses saw that what was important was the spiritual.

 

Yes, material things matter—but not at the expense of the spiritual things. 

Paul says in 2 Cor. 4:18: “while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Let’s make sure that we are not materialistic people, spending most of our time, conversation, and energy focusing on physical possessions that are temporary.

Luke 12:15 reads: “And he [Jesus] said to them, ‘Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.’”

Our lives do not consist in the material things we own. Jesus’ words do bring us life, but it is spiritual life: “the words I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63b AMP). In the same way that physical maturity takes time and food, spiritual growth is a process that takes spiritual nutrition – the Word.

 

Faith & Financial Planning

As a wealth manager, I try to always bring my Bible to client meetings. Why? We talk about planning for the future for material provisions. Oftentimes, however, spiritual words are needed to address important planning decisions. To ignore the spiritual is to neglect the more important matters in our lives.

I encourage you to begin your day taking in God’s Words, which will allow you to move beyond materialism.