From Milk to Meat: Growing in Spiritual Maturity (Hebrews 5:11-14)

We live in a culture that celebrates perpetual adolescence—where staying “young at heart” often means refusing to grow up. Sadly, this same spirit has crept into the church. Many of us who proudly identify as conservative, Bible-believing Christians have mistaken familiarity with doctrine for actual spiritual maturity. We attend church faithfully, defend the inerrancy of Scripture, and stand firm on moral issues, yet the author of Hebrews would look at much of our spiritual diet and say the same thing he said to the first-century Jewish believers:



“About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” (Hebrews 5:11-14, ESV)


These believers had heard the gospel, witnessed miracles, and endured persecution—yet they had stalled in spiritual infancy. The same warning echoes to us today.


The Apostle Paul told the carnal Corinthians, “I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it” (1 Corinthians 3:2). Peter urged new believers to “long for the pure spiritual milk” so they could *grow up* into salvation (1 Peter 2:2). Milk is good for babies, but the Christian life is designed to move from elementary truths to the deep riches of Christ.


True maturity, according to Hebrews, belongs to those who have “trained their powers of discernment by constant practice.” Notice the key words: *constant practice*. Maturity is not occasional Bible reading or listening to a sermon once a week. It is daily, deliberate discipline—chewing on the whole counsel of God until we can instinctively tell the difference between truth and error, holy and profane, God’s will and the spirit of the age.


In a world where evil is called good and good is called evil (Isaiah 5:20), where feelings trump biology and tolerance is demanded of everyone except biblical Christians, we cannot survive on spiritual junk food. We need men and women who feast on the solid food of Scripture and lead their families, churches, and communities with clear-eyed discernment.


Practical Steps Toward Maturity


1. **Move beyond spiritual fast food.** Trade shallow devotionals and trending influencers for the whole counsel of God. Tackle the “hard” books—Leviticus, Romans, Revelation—and study them deeply in community.


2. **Train discernment daily.** Test every cultural claim, political promise, and popular teaching against the unchanging Word. When someone says “God just wants you happy,” measure it by the cross. When the culture redefines gender, return to Genesis 1:27. When politicians promise utopia, remember our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20).


3. **Obey what you already know.** James 1:22 is blunt: “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” Knowledge without obedience keeps us infants. Love your spouse as Christ loved the church. Raise your children in the discipline of the Lord. Mortify sin. Speak truth in love.


4. **Run the race with endurance.** Hebrews 12:1-2 calls us to lay aside every weight and “look to Jesus,” the author and perfecter of our faith. Maturity is never a coasting point—it is a lifelong pursuit of Christ-likeness.


The same grace that saved us is the grace that sanctifies us. The Lord has given us His Spirit, His Word, and His church so that we might grow from milk to meat—from spiritual children to mature sons and daughters who can teach others.


Will you heed the warning today? Will you lay down the bottle and pick up the meat of God’s Word? The church—and the watching world—desperately needs mature believers who can distinguish good from evil and stand unashamed in these darkening days.


May the God of all grace make us a discerning, obedient, and faithful people for the glory of His name.


**Amen.**

DMMC 

4-29-26

Location: Peru, IN 46970, USA

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