Mature/Maturing Believer
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A Maturing Believer Loves and Pursues the Lord (Greatest Commandment)
Matthew 22:37 “And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
John 3:30 “He must increase, but I must decrease.””
John 14:21 “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.””
Psalm 63:1 “1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”
Matthew 6:33 “33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Hebrews 11:16 “16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”
A Maturing Believer Loves Others and Stewards Relationships (Second Greatest Commandment)
Matthew 22:38–39 “38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
1 John 4:7 “7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.”
Colossians 3:12–14 “12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”
Galatians 5:22–23 “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
A Maturing Believer is broken over sin
Psalm 51:17 “17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
Isaiah 66:2 “2 All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”
James 4:8–10 “8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”
2 Corinthians 7:10 “10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.”
A Maturing Believer is Growing.
Ephesians 4:15–16 “15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
Philippians 3:13–14 “13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
1 Corinthians 13:11 “11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.”
2 Peter 1:5–8 “5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
A Maturing Believer Discerns good from evil and walks in the light. Is not swayed by false teaching.
Hebrews 5:14 “14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”
Romans 12:2 “2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
2 Timothy 2:15 “15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”
A Maturing Believer Prioritizes disciplines of worship.
Matthew 6:6 “6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Matthew 18:20 “20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.””
Luke 11:1–4 “1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread, 4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.””
Psalm 95:1–2 “1 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! 2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!”
Psalm 100:4 “4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!”
Isaiah 25:1 “1 O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure.”
Psalm 119:105 “105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
2 Timothy 3:16–17 “16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
Hebrews 4:12 “12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
A Maturing Leader is on Mission for the Lord (Great Commission).
Matthew 28:19–20 “19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””
Acts 1:8 “8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.””
Ephesians 2:10 “10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
1 Peter 3:15 “15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,”
Spiritual Leadership Development by 6 ̊ - Converge Missions Agency
Learning and Growing (Consume)
Christ Follower
Evidence of faith
Personal walk with God
Faithful church contributor
Forming Christian Character
Self-Feeding (Self-Sufficient)
Consistent walk with God
Seeks opportunities to growth and service
Prayer for more than just physical personal needs
Builds character
Discerning leading through God’s voice, Wor, and Church
Feeding others (Produce)
Consistently sharing faith
Disciples others
Teaching spiritual lessons
Leading and serving in the church
Influences their circles to spiritual growth
Developing Others (Reproduce)
To be solely dependent on God
Deep Character
Disciple others with concepts and principles
Reproducing themselves with multiplication as the goal
Coaching (Multiplication)
Leading leaders to reproduce
Coaching through spiritual concerns and issues
Casts vision for leaders
Coaches’ leaders how to cast vision
Creates pipelines for leadership multiplication.