People think that just going to church every week makes them strong in the Lord. Don't get me wrong; going to church can help you grow. But just because you go to church does not mean that you are mature.
There are many people who have been going to church all their life, and some of them have never even made the decision to give their life to Jesus in a personal way. Others have gone to church their whole life and made a decision when they were a child, but they've never really done anything to grow in the Lord. Yet they think that because they have been in church all their life they are strong Christians or mature believers.
Maturity in Christ is not measured by years.
Maturity in Christ is measured by your obedience to the Word of God.
The more obedient you are, the more mature you are. The more you live what the Bible says, the more you show that you are a mature believer, no matter how old you are.
I have seen thirteen-, fourteen-, and fifteen-year-old teenagers who were extremely mature in Christ. They are young physically, but they are towers of strength spiritually.
Heb. 5:12: "In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's Word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!"
Think about the words "by this time." The writer of Hebrews is saying, "Listen! You guys have been going to church for a long time. You have been hanging around other believers for a long time. You have had enough time. You should have grown up by now. Just because you have been hanging around does not mean that you have grown up. You are still acting like babies."
This is the state of so much of the church. We have so many gray-haired babies in churches all over the world. They are old physically, so they think they are spiritually mature; but this is not necessarily the case.
Now, time is part of growing up as a Christian. You cannot think that you can become mature overnight - that you just get zapped, and you are a "Robo-Christian." It is time spent regularly applying the Word of God to your life that helps you to grow up, not just time by itself. In other words, you have to be using your time so that you are maximizing your opportunity for growth.
If you feel that you've been around church a lot (or even your whole life) and haven't really grown much, it's not too late. Take advantage of the time you have now to make sure that all of your time counts toward growing in the Lord. Ask the Lord how you can make the best use of your time to make sure you are not just growing physically, but also spiritually.
Excerpt permission granted by Albury Publishing