Spiritual Maturity

The things I am learning about spiritual maturity is that not every person matures at the same rate, plus it may mean different things to different people. While the ideal of maturity is similar across the board, spiritual maturity can be extremely different from person to person. That is one of the most fascinating things about it!

For me, I find that my spiritual maturity this far has shown me boundaries I have to set for myself. Whether it be music, TV shows, movies, etc... I really have to limit what allow in my mind. This maturity has shown me that Christian music is about all I want to listen to anymore. I do have songs I like, and are not bad, that are not Christian songs, but they are not on my normal rotation of music anymore. I just prefer not to have that crack in the door, possibly allowing the bad stuff to creep in.

But there are many who feel that their spiritual maturity is about being able to listen to secular music without many issues. And for those who can listen to it without it affecting their spiritual walk, awesome for them! I don't find myself even drawn to that kind of maturity.  I personally like that the music I choose fills my mind, heart and ears with the Lord through every song! 

Same with TV shows and movies. Now, I am still working on taming my choices. But if you saw the shows I watched 2 years ago compared to now, you would see a HUGE difference. I choose not to fill my mind with the things that put a definite hindrance on my relationship with Christ, which is what I feel shows my maturity.

This also includes other areas, like how we dress, friends we keep, things we spend our time doing and even how you respond to situations.  Everyone may have a different opinion about what makes them spiritually mature in those areas.  It is such an individual definition, and I love how I can be among people who I believe are spiritually maturing and we are all still very different! 

I know that my personal journey requires a much more definitive line drawn in certain areas than other people may require. My struggles are different and the effects of outside influences are different in my life than the next person. And, that is alright. Just because our struggles, journey, and lines drawn are different does not mean one is more mature than the other, it just means that our maturity means something different.