YAG I: Book of James – Evin Tay
Developing Spiritual Maturity
As I reflected on the YAG I lessons this year, the topic of having spiritual maturity (8th July lesson) spoke to me.
As Ruth and I look forward to our next phase in life, having spiritual maturity and wisdom has become more important to us. We recognise the need to seek the Lord for wisdom, grace and maturity as we make decisions together. At times, this is a real struggle because there are things that we do not always see eye to eye. Instead of using worldly wisdom like turning to self-help books or quotes, we are encouraged to seek God first, to ask for wisdom.
There will be many decisions to make throughout our lives but we want to make decisions that are truly wise, rather than being wise in the eyes of the world. Seeking God first, instead of chasing after the nicest house or the biggest car is something that we are praying about.
I chose this topic because I believe it encompasses many lessons and aspects of faith, and is one area where I aspire to improve and work on.
We are warned in James what happens when one lacks spiritual maturity. It could lead to over-generalisation of truths, having the wrong idea of God or worse, having a defective view of blaming God for every testing (5th August lesson).
On the other hand, if one can develop spiritual maturity, one would have a high regard for the Word, and be able to receive the implanted Word of God well, with meekness and humility (James 1:21), where it should be rooted in our hearts and bear fruits.
Personally, part of what it means to be spiritually mature for me is to be able to trace the Lord hand in my life and to involve God more in my life. And this goes beyond just thanking Him for the pleasant things that happen in life or for giving us the strength to get by the day. For me, it is the understanding that even testings or difficulties in my life produces patience (James 1:3–4), and to instead, try to see whichever lesson that God is trying to teach me during that challenging time.
As Ruth and I prepare to get married, having spiritual maturity is even more important to us. We recognise the need for us to be more mature spiritually in order to build a God-centric family. There will be many decisions to make throughout our lives but we want to make decisions which places God first. The challenge is for our conduct to be acceptable to God.
In response, I seek to take some small proactive steps to reach my goal.
To cultivate deeper knowledge of His Word
In order to develop spiritual maturity, I will need to first increase my knowledge and understanding of the Word. Without sufficient knowledge, there will not be enough spiritual wisdom that the Spirit can bring to remembrance (John 14:26) during challenging times. Even though applying our faith is important, but without first increasing our knowledge, we can only apply within a limited scope of the knowledge at the current level we are at, without being able to improve further in application of faith.
Being more diligent to seek His Word
I seek to spend more time on the Lord’s Word, instead of devoting most of my time to work-related things. “Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all” (1 Timothy 4:15). This verse reminds me of the importance of taking the time to meditate on His Word and not just read it. I will want to be more proactive as well.
Be doers of the Word
We learnt at YAG I that just listening to the Word is not enough. We ought to be doers of the Word. As I reflect on the lessons, I seek to be someone who can practise the Word in my life, as I prepare to start a new phase in life. I hope to be able to practise the lessons learnt both at work and at home, and I know that in order to do this, I will need to have the highest regard for the Word, as we should.
Overall, I believe that the lessons from James have been very useful and interconnected. Through the lessons, I hope to continue to grow and become more spiritually mature as time goes by. To have the wisdom and understanding to cope with testings. This is something I see very real at Bethany with some of the older uncles and aunties, as well as the Teachers and Pastors. They speak of faith in a way that shows their spiritual maturity and live their lives in a similar way. I hope to be able to learn from them and in time to come, to be like them as well.