The Developmental Milestone

In medical school, there was a study guide that included a table summarizing the major developmental milestones of a growing baby.

Keep in mind that this table already did an excellent job of condensing all you needed to know about these milestones – but I was never quite able to wrap my head around all of them, especially the finer details.

When the exams eventually came around, I consigned the ones I couldn’t remember to the “they won’t ask this one” category and hoped for the best.

Whether or not “they” eventually asked “it” is a story for another day. But I got thinking recently and found myself thanking God that measuring your growth as a believer isn’t nearly as complicated as this.

How is the growth of a believer measured?

Well, the answer to that question might vary, depending on who you ask. Some might say a person’s maturity is shown by how well they manifest the gifts of the spirit or how well they perform signs and wonders.

While these may be indications of growth, there is THE developmental milestone that must be met before a believer can be said to be growing.

“This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.”

Ephesians 4:12 (NLT)

How we know we’re maturing is when, as time passes, we’re looking more like Jesus Christ. Whether in our thoughts or actions, our lives answer the question of “What would Jesus do?” Or as NIV puts it, our lives are “attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

But how, in particular terms, do we level up to the fullness of Christ?

“That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” 

Ephesians 3:17-19 (NKJV)

To state it simply, how well we know the love of Christ is the measure of how much we’ve been filled with the fullness of God—it’s the measure of how mature we are as Christians.

And this “knowing” isn’t a mere head knowledge. The translation of that word per the Thayer definition describes an intimate acquaintance. It’s a knowledge that makes you one with the love of God.

How mature are you in God? It’s a question of how much of God’s love you’ve embodied.