Looking for loopholes …

How can you tell when someone is spiritually mature?

Well, we do know that we should never cease in our daily pursuit of growing in Christ because, although we can become mature spiritually, we’ll never reach the point of spiritual perfection while in this skin. So, we always have more growing to do.

But what are some of the marks of spiritual maturity in a disciple’s life?

Here’s a simple one, but I think it really is a profound measure of someone who is earnestly committed to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in their life:

You finally stop looking for loopholes.

When you’ve come to that place where you either stop looking for reasons to not obey the Lord, or for ways to minimize obedience, then you’re growing up in the Lord.

“So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say?” Luke 6:46.

“If you love me, obey my commandments,” John 14:15.

“Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them,” John 14:21.

The disciple who earnestly loves his Savior and desires to be like Him and live to His glory isn’t looking for a way to do the least, give the least, serve the least, love the least, care the least; instead, he looks for ways to faithfully be the least, making most of Christ in His life and all its circumstances.

When you stop looking for loopholes, you don’t even think about shortcuts. You show up each day, having shouldered your own cross, and you’re ready to imitate Christ at home, at work, in the community, with your family, or whatever situation the day will bring.

All because you’re done with loopholes. You no longer are looking for an out because you’re “all in.” The Apostle Paul modeled this attitude when he wrote:

“I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us,” Philippians 3:7-14.

Are you still looking for loopholes in the Gospel? Are you looking for shortcuts in obeying Christ? Are you still trying to discover what “minimum” is for a disciple? Or have you given up the search for loopholes in exchange for an authentic walk with Christ where you can spend yourself for His sake?

Scotty