There are things that keep us from moving forward with the Lord. Attitudes you're still holding onto, habits that keep you stuck in spiritual childhood when God is calling you to become a son, a daughter, an adult in the faith. Pastor Jean-Blaise AMOUGOU said it this Sunday morning in a sentence that sums it all up: "Spiritual maturity is a daily process."
It's not a sudden event. It's not a strong emotion. It's not even a matter of how long you've been at church. It's a gradual, daily path that runs through new birth, prayer, obedience, trials, and discipline. A path where God shapes you the way the divine potter shapes his clay, breaking what needs to be broken, removing what needs to be removed, so you become better, not worse.
This article faithfully retells Pastor Jean-Blaise's message. Take the time to read it slowly, positioning yourself before God, as if you were sitting in the congregation that morning.
Outline of this message
1. Spiritual maturity begins with a new birth
2. Growth is a daily process
3. God uses time and trials to help you grow
4. Maturity shows in the fruit, not in the words
5. Growth requires discipline and perseverance
1. Spiritual maturity begins with a new birth
Before becoming a son, you're first a child. And a child, as long as he isn't mature, remains a servant. He's under authority. He tries to do things his own way, tries to have his own opinions, tries to push mom and dad to act according to his will. As long as he stays there, he isn't fully a son yet.
Spiritually, it's the same. Pastor Jean-Blaise puts it plainly: "You have to grow to become mature. When you're mature, you start doing God's will. You start understanding who God is." And to grow, you first have to be born.
That's what Jesus tells Nicodemus, that teacher of the law who knew the Torah by heart: "Most certainly, I tell you, unless one is born anew, he can't see God's Kingdom" (John 3:3). Notice this carefully: Jesus doesn't just say "enter." He says "see." It's like when the President passes by: you can see him go by, but you can't walk into the Elysée Palace unless you're one of the select few. Being born anew is precisely becoming one of the chosen, someone who doesn't just watch God from a distance, but enters in and lives with him.
You have to leave your old life behind. It's true, the flesh clings to you. It won't just go away. It isn't a demon, it acts like one, but it isn't one. And thank God: Jesus Christ has conquered the flesh. When you come to him, you're set free. As Paul says, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1).
Understand what this really means: "The God who created everything lives in you." The Almighty dwells in the temple of your body. Morning, noon, night, wherever you go, you carry him with you. So why run around left and right looking for deliverance? Why let a fallen angel (because that's what Satan is), convince you he can lay claim to your soul? "Satan can't touch you unless God says 'touch,'" the pastor reminds us.
Maturity doesn't depend on how long you've been coming to church. Being there for ages doesn't make you mature. Neither does knowing the Bible by heart, Nicodemus and Paul knew it by heart, and it still took Christ revealing himself for them to understand what they were reading. Maturity depends on a genuinely transformed life. You become a different person. You can say, "it is no longer I who live, but Christ living in me" (Galatians 2:20).
2. Growth is a daily process
Jesus was clear: "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me" (Luke 9:23). Not once. Not a Sunday-morning feeling. Every day. Because each day has enough trouble of its own.
Spiritual maturity is built through three regular habits:
- Daily prayer, not just saying "Oh Lord, hallelujah," but taking time to speak to God and closing your mouth so he can speak to you.
- Meditating on his Word every day, not reading it like a novel, but meditating while asking God to speak to you. Sometimes you don't even need to open the Bible: while you're praying, God starts revealing things to you, and all you have to do is write them down.
- Steady obedience, because if you don't obey the Word, you're in trouble. How can you be mature if you carry hatred toward your brother, contempt toward your sister, jealousy within the congregation, when you share the same Holy Spirit?
Pastor Jean-Blaise doesn't sugarcoat it: couples split apart over nothing, a husband turns his back one way, the wife the other, and in the morning it's just "morning," "morning." That's something we as children of God should be ashamed of. Twenty-first-century kids impose their will on their parents, "until you give me such-and-such, I won't eat, I won't do the dishes." It isn't the occasional grand gesture that transforms you, but steady habits in Jesus Christ, through Jesus Christ, for Jesus Christ.
3. God uses time and trials to help you grow
This is where it stings. Because God's timing is exactly what many people can't stand. You want it right now: a husband, a wife, a job, a blessing. And when God takes his time, you go looking elsewhere, and "elsewhere" turns into something else entirely.
But the Bible says: "Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" (James 1:3-4). Difficulties aren't accidents. They're tools of transformation. When everything looks bleak, when there's no way out left, that's when God says, "Now I want to see."
A testimony: God's timing, ten years later
In 1994, Pastor Jean-Blaise was invited to Toulon for two weeks of pastoral training. He stayed with a family, a woman who sang all the time, a husband who accompanied her, a son who is now a pastor of a large church in the south of France. One day, the woman told him her story:
"Some years back, my husband left me. He asked for a divorce. He was gone for ten years."
Ten years. Her son was still very young. She stayed on her knees, pleading: "Father, this is the husband you gave me, the man you entrusted to me. Our marriage was blessed by you. What is happening?" On the outside, she was cheerful. At church, joyful. At home, she'd shut her door and weep before her Father. One year, two years, five years, ten years.
One day, her husband walked past a church in Toulon. There was an outreach event happening. A man came out and stopped him: "Stop. The Lord is sending me to tell you to go home now." This man had never met him before in his life. The husband was struck to the ground. His mind was racing: "Would she even accept me back? My son must be grown by now." And God spoke to him: "Go."
He climbed the stairs on his knees, his face to the ground, to ask forgiveness from God and from his wife. God's timing. She hadn't given up. She hadn't failed in anything. She had held fast.
There is no spiritual depth without trials. A Christian who has never faced a trial isn't a mature Christian yet, he's like a child who gets everything handed to him right away. When things go wrong: don't grumble, don't criticize, don't quarrel, don't hold contempt, don't be jealous. You don't know where God is taking you.
4. Maturity shows in the fruit, not in the words
Paul writes in Galatians 5:22-23: "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control." Pastor Jean-Blaise draws attention to the last one: self-control. That's where we all stumble.
Someone speaks harshly to you, and boom: "Who do you think you are? Why are you talking to me like that? Since when do you speak to me this way?" Self-control is gone. A simple "forgive me, please, I was wrong" would do, but no. We've all failed at this, starting with ourselves, especially toward our own children.
A mature Christian has to show this fruit. Love, not just in words, but in life. When you say "I love you, sister," you need to back it up. When you see your brother suffering, you should be able to tell him: "there's no wall between you and me." Love doesn't prove itself when everything's going well at church. It proves itself when things are hard, when it's murky, when everything looks dark. That's when you find out whether you truly love your brother, your sister.
And gentleness. When you correct someone, is there gentleness in it? Or is it: "I already told you last time, no, no, no…"? Maturity isn't what you say. It's what you become in Jesus Christ.
5. Growth requires discipline and perseverance
Hebrews 12:11 says it plainly: "All chastening seems for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."
Are you willing to let God lead you down his path of discipline? Many Christians only want the good stuff: "Lord, a Ferrari," "Lord, a blessing." But when God leads you down his path of breaking, you say, "That's the devil." No. God tells you: "Forget the devil. This is me. I'm bringing you through this so you understand it is I, your God, making you go through these things so you become better, not worse."
Go ask Paul if he never suffered. Go ask Peter how he died. Go ask Job. Maturity requires giving up certain habits. There may be things buried deep inside you that God wants to bring out so he can set you free. Many Christians are sick, frustrated, worn out, because they're holding on to what they refuse to hand over to Jesus. Open your heart: "Here is my heart. I'm giving you everything inside it. Take care of it."
Keep going even without motivation. Keep going even when things aren't right. Back in Cameroon, there's a saying: "You push, then you wedge it." You're on a slope with a broken-down car: you push, you set the wedge, you rest, you push again, until the slope ends. Stay faithful. Faithfulness isn't just something you show at church. It's when the problem is hard, when the tears have run dry, when all that's left is groaning. That's when God tells you: "Welcome to the club."
What's hard today builds a solid life tomorrow.
Key takeaways
- Spiritual maturity isn't instant, emotional, or surface-level. It's gradual, intentional, daily.
- It begins with a new birth. Until you're born anew, you can't even see the Kingdom of God.
- It's built through three habits: daily prayer, meditating on the Word, steady obedience.
- It shows itself through the fruit of the Spirit, especially self-control and real love for your brother and sister.
- God uses trials as tools of transformation. Don't grumble, don't criticize, don't be jealous. Keep going.
Personal application
- Are you truly growing with God each day, or have you stayed at the stage of a spiritual infant?
- Do you take real time each day to pray, speaking to God and closing your mouth to listen to him?
- When a trial comes, what's your first reaction: blaming Satan, a family member, the church… or turning to God?
- Is there jealousy, a quarrel, or contempt toward a brother or sister in your heart that you need to settle before God this week?
- What habit is God asking you to break today so you can grow?
Verses cited
- 2 Peter 3:11-18 · "Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
- Luke 9:23 · "Let him take up his cross daily, and follow me."
- John 3:3 · "Unless one is born anew, he can't see God's Kingdom."
- Romans 1:18-21 · "His invisible attributes are clearly seen since the creation of the world."
- Romans 8:1 · "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus."
- James 1:3-4 · "The testing of your faith produces endurance."
- Galatians 5:22-23 · The fruit of the Spirit.
- Galatians 2:20 · "It is no longer I who live, but Christ living in me."
- Hebrews 12:11 · "All chastening yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness."
Further reading
FAQ
Does spiritual maturity come with how long you've attended church?
No. Pastor Jean-Blaise makes it clear: being at church for ages doesn't make you mature. Nicodemus and the apostle Paul knew the Torah by heart, and yet it took Christ revealing himself to them for them to truly understand. Maturity depends on a transformed life, not on time spent in a pew.
Why does God allow trials if I'm his child?
Because trials aren't accidents in your life, they're tools of transformation. James 1:3-4 says the testing of faith produces endurance, and endurance must have its perfect work. No trial, no depth. No trial, and you stay at the stage of a child. God shapes you the way a potter shapes clay, so you become better, not worse.
How do I know if I'm growing spiritually?
Look at the fruit, not the words. Self-control when someone speaks harshly to you. Real love for your brother and sister, especially when things are murky. Gentleness when you correct someone. Faithfulness when the problem is hard and the tears have run dry. If this fruit is ripening in you, God is at work.
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