It is easy to assume that spiritual maturity is about how much you know, how long you have been a Christian, or how often you attend church. But the book of Hebrews challenges that assumption directly. True spiritual maturity looks different than most of us expect, and it is more practical and more demanding than simply accumulating biblical knowledge.
Why Did the Writer of Hebrews Stop Mid-Message?
Walking through Hebrews chapter six, something unusual happens. The writer is in the middle of a powerful argument that Jesus is better, better than the angels, better than Moses, better than any human high priest, and He suddenly presses pause.
He senses something dangerous rising up in the lives of the Jewish believers he is writing to. In Hebrews 5:11, he says, “There’s much more we would like to say about this, but it’s difficult to explain, especially because you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen.”
He goes on to say they should be teaching others by now, but instead they still need someone to teach them the basics. They are like spiritual infants who need milk instead of solid food.
The warning is serious. If they remain spiritually immature, they risk becoming just like the wilderness generation in the Old Testament, people who were delivered from Egypt but never entered the promised land because their hearts grew hard toward God. They missed God’s blessing in the present because of spiritual immaturity.
How Do You Know If You Are Actually Growing in Your Faith?
A fair and honest question to ask yourself is this: Is my life producing the kind of fruit that shows I am truly growing in my faith?
Galatians 5:22 gives us a clear picture of what that fruit looks like. “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things.” – Galatians 5:22-23
The key question is not just whether you experience these things personally, but whether others are being nourished by them through you. The fruit of an apple tree is not for the tree itself. It is for the people who come and take from it.
Spiritual maturity is not just knowing more about Jesus. Spiritual maturity is becoming more like Jesus.
What Is the Real Measure of Spiritual Maturity?
In Hebrews 6:10, the writer points to something specific as evidence of spiritual growth. “For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do.” – Hebrews 6:10
Notice what he does not point to. He does not measure maturity by how much scripture you have memorized, how long you have been a believer, or how many services you attend. He points to how you have loved and served other people.
Our love for God is demonstrated by how we care for one another. First John 4:20 puts it plainly. “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar. For if we don’t love the people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?” – 1 John 4:20
What Did Jesus Say Would Prove We Belong to Him?
In John 13, Jesus gives His disciples His final words before going to the cross. These are the words He believed would carry the mission of the kingdom forward. And what did He say?
“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” – John 13:34-35
He did not say that holding the right doctrine would prove it, though right doctrine matters. He did not say that knowing scripture would prove it, though knowing scripture is important. He said love would prove it.
And not just any kind of love. The love of Jesus, which is self-giving, co-suffering, and radically forgiving. That is a very different standard than what the world calls love.
What Does Loving Like Jesus Actually Look Like in Real Life?
Spiritual maturity is not abstract. Here is what it looks like in everyday life:
- Choosing forgiveness when someone has hurt you
- Serving someone who cannot do anything for you in return
- Being patient with someone who is difficult to love
- Making room in your life for someone who is struggling
- Meeting a need without expecting recognition
- Refusing to participate in gossip and instead protecting the dignity of someone who is not present
- Loving someone even when you disagree with them
- Giving up your time, your preferences, your comfort, or your need to be right for the sake of another
That is what makes a difference. That is the picture of spiritual maturity Jesus calls us to.
Why Does Loving Others Protect You from Spiritual Immaturity?
Hebrews 6:11-12 says, “Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent.”
When we love like Jesus, we are actually protected from the very thing the writer is warning against. Loving and serving others guards us from spiritual complacency.
The Greek word for spiritually dull is nothros, meaning sluggish or lazy. It does not mean you are unable. It means you possess the ability but do not care to put forth the effort. That is a dangerous place to be spiritually.
Spiritual complacency rarely happens all at once. It happens gradually, slowly, subtly, until one day you look back and realize how far you have drifted. Proverbs 24:30-34 paints a vivid picture of this, describing a neglected field overtaken by weeds, the result of a little extra sleep, a little more rest, a little folding of the hands.
Spiritual neglect has consequences. And the remedy is active, ongoing love and service to others.
What Can We Learn from Abraham About Trusting God in Uncertainty?
The second mark of spiritual maturity in Hebrews 6 is trusting the faithfulness of God. The writer points to Abraham as the example to follow.
God promised Abraham that through His descendants all the nations of the earth would be blessed. But the fulfillment of that promise did not come for 25 years. Abraham waited patiently, and then he received what God had promised.
Even after Isaac was born, Abraham’s faith was tested again when God asked Him to sacrifice His son, the very son through whom the promise was to be carried out. Hebrews 11:19 gives us a remarkable insight. “Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring Him back to life again.” – Hebrews 11:19
Abraham could not control the circumstances. He could not see how it would all work out. So he did the only thing he could control. He trusted God.
Waiting on God does not mean God has forgotten about you. God is always at work. As the first-century theologian Philo wrote, “God never stops working. For as it is the property of fire to burn or of snow to be cold, so it is of God to work.”
Why Can We Be Confident That God Will Keep His Promises?
Hebrews 6:17-18 explains that God bound Himself with an oath so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure He would never change His mind. “God also bound Himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that He would never change His mind. So God has given both his promise and His oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie.” – Hebrews 6:17-18
In the ancient world, people swore by someone greater than themselves to establish the truthfulness of their words. Since there is no one greater than God, He swore by Himself. And because it is impossible for God to lie, His promises are ironclad. His character guarantees His commitments.
What Does It Mean That Jesus Is an Anchor for Our Souls?
Hebrews 6:19 offers one of the most beautiful images in the entire letter. “This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.” – Hebrews 6:19
An anchor is designed to keep something secure when the conditions around it are unstable. Jesus is that anchor for us.
But here is what makes this image unique. Normally an anchor goes down into the water to hold a boat in place. The anchor of our hope works differently. Jesus anchors us upward, directly into the presence of God. We are not anchored down into our problems. We are anchored up into the unchanging, immovable presence of God.
Because of what Jesus has done, Hebrews 4:16 tells us, “Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” – Hebrews 4:16
An anchor does not remove the storm. It keeps you secure in the midst of it. Following Jesus does not mean you will never face trouble. As Jesus Himself said, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33
Life Application
This week, choose one specific and practical way to love someone the way Jesus loves. Not someone who is easy to love or who will return the favor. Choose someone who is difficult, someone who has hurt you, someone who is struggling, or someone who simply needs to be seen. Serve them without expecting recognition. Forgive them without waiting for an apology. Make room for them without conditions.
This is not just a nice idea. It is the primary evidence that you are growing in your faith, and it is the very thing that protects you from spiritual drift.
Ask yourself these questions as you go into the week:
- Is there evidence in my life right now that God is at work both in me and through me?
- Am I becoming more like Jesus, or am I simply accumulating more knowledge about Him?
- Is there an area of my life where I have become spiritually lazy or complacent, and what would it look like to take one step forward this week?
- Is there someone in my life I have been withholding love or forgiveness from, and what would it look like to love them the way Jesus loves me?
- In the areas of my life where I am waiting on God, am I trusting His faithfulness or drifting toward doubt and discouragement?
Spiritual maturity is not a destination. It is a direction. And the direction is always toward Jesus, always toward others, and always forward in trust, even when the storm is still raging around you.
