Spiritual Maturity

Jesus, like a good youth pastor, puts His followers in uncomfortable situations that stretch them to do more than they think possible. His hardest teaching is to love our enemies, not with feeling but with disciplined action, because maturity means letting go of self, and because God is still on a rescue mission for the broken souls of the very people who hate us.

The popular advice "you can be anything you want to be" sounds encouraging but isn't true and can even be harmful. Scripture shows we are God's handiwork, created for good works He planned in advance — our job is not to invent our purpose but to discover it, and God reveals it as we grow in spiritual maturity.

Jesus saves us by His cross, but our own cross shapes us into spiritual maturity. Indulgences — chasing pleasure, position, or comfort at the expense of our health, relationships, and spiritual well-being — start small but dull our spiritual senses if left unchecked, so we're called to crucify them daily rather than let them define us.