Billy Graham - Living as a Christian: The Journey Study Series

In this ebook edition, please use your devices note-taking function to record your thoughts wherever you see the bracketed instructions [Your Notes] or [Your Response Here]. Use your devices highlighting function to record your response whenever you are asked to checkmark, circle, underline, or otherwise indicate your answer(s).

T O GET THE MOST FROM THIS STUDY GUIDE, READ pages 7477 of The Journey.

We werent meant to be spiritual babies. Gods goal for us is spiritual maturity.

B ILLY G RAHAM
The Journey

Ive never been one who thought the good Lord should make life easy; Ive just asked Him to make me strong.

E VA B OWRING

And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

2 C ORINTHIANS 5:15

Babies are interesting. They have little concern for the needs of others, demand their own way, interrupt at will, and are more than happy to let you know when things arent going their way. We can deal with babies because we realize that their condition is temporary. They grow and mature. Before long, their schedules conform to our schedules. They eat the same food we eat. They can verbalize their concerns rather than simply crying about them.

The same can be said about spiritual babies. Their condition immediately following spiritual rebirth is temporarywe hope! But just like physical maturity, spiritual maturity is a lifelong process that involves continual change. The idea is to grow more mature every day. That doesnt happen in the lives of many believers. Why?

What keeps you from growing spiritually?

Im not interested in growing. I just want to go to heaven when I die.

Im too distracted by other things.

Im too busy.

Today, I am growing because:

[Your Response Here]

What are three things you do to grow spiritually?

1. [Your Response Here]

2. [Your Response Here]

3. [Your Response Here]

We need to grow in many areas of life. If we dont grow in our knowledge of our professions, we suffer the consequences. If we dont grow in our understanding of what it means to be a parent, we suffer the consequences. Likewise, if we dont grow in our spiritual lives, we suffer the consequences.

What are the consequences of spiritual stagnation?

[Your Response Here]

Like babies, new believers begin their spiritual lives with a dependence on others. They must be taught and trained so that they eventually can stand on their own. The problem is that many believers never move out of the dependence stage. Years after their salvation experiences, they still exhibit characteristics consistent with being spiritual babies.

Read Hebrews 6:1 and 1 Peter 2:2. What is the common message of these two verses?

[Your Response Here]

If we review the entirety of Scripture, we will find that many of the spiritual struggles faced by Gods people were the direct result of spiritual immaturity. The Israelites failed to deepen their relationship with God, so they sinned in spite of Gods miraculous work on their behalf. The disciples didnt grow in their understanding of who Jesus was, so they couldnt deal with His death. The list goes on and on until it reaches you and me. Many of our spiritual struggles are directly related to our lack of spiritual maturity. We have remained carnal, or driven by our own desires and lusts.

Paul uses the term carnal in reference to believers whose earthly desires were greater than their spiritual desires. You might say that people are naturally carnal and subject to the consequences of that lifewhich is death.

Believers only have two choices about how to live their lives. They will either live carnal lives or spiritual lives. The carnal life is lived contrary to Gods laws; the spiritual life is lived in accordance with Gods laws. Carnal Christians are often sources of discord within the body of believers. When carnality takes over, the church is in trouble.

The battle between godly desires and fleshly lusts isnt new. Peter encouraged believers to stand strong against their fleshly lusts (1 Peter 2:11) so that they would not misrepresent what it means to be a follower of Christ.

The same battle is being waged today. We see people we know to be Christians doing things that are inconsistent with their faith. Their conversion experience was real; they simply havent matured beyond the point of allowing their fleshly desires and motives to control their attitudes and actions. The antidote to carnality is spiritual maturity. If believers dont intentionally seek spiritual growth, they will become carnal. There are no other choices.

On average, how much time do you spend each day in each of the following activities?

Whats something you do that isnt on the list?

[Your Response Here]

How much time on average do you spend in activities that lead to spiritual growth and maturity?

[Your Response Here]