FCA ResourcesDevotional
Spiritual Milk
Ready
“For my part, brothers and sisters, I was not able to speak to you as spiritual people but as people of the flesh, as babies in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, since you were not yet ready for it. In fact, you are still not ready, because you are still worldly. For since there is envy and strife among you, are you not worldly and behaving like mere humans?” – 1 Corinthians 3:1-3
Set
I recently attended a youth T-ball game. In this particular game, the teams moved from coach-pitch to player-pitch. As you can imagine, the results looked very different from when an adult pitched the ball to when 9-year-olds pitched to other 9-year-olds.
Even though, from the stands, it looked rough, it was time to start moving the kids forward and helping them learn how to throw the ball on their own. One day, they won’t be nine years old anymore, and they will need to develop the skill of pitching to keep progressing in their sport. They can’t stay in coach-pitch forever and grow into the players they desire to be; they must move forward.
When we first decide to have a relationship with Christ, we are like T-ballers, living off what Paul calls spiritual “milk” and have not yet transitioned to solid foods. There is a point, however, where we must stop relying on the milk and move to sustain ourselves on the solid food of a mature relationship with Christ. Paul criticized the church at Corinth for remaining in a milk state instead of growing to where they could be challenged more and rely on solid food.
When we start with our faith, the milk is the training wheels to help us figure out what we must do as Christians. For example, it might be hard to establish a prayer life early because you are unsure how to pray, what to pray for, and when. But as you grow in your faith, you should grow in your desire to pray.
Like the T-ballers had to move forward to grow, we must also step out and challenge ourselves to grow in our faith.
Go
- Are you still relying on spiritual milk to nourish you, or are you pursuing a mature faith relationship with God?
- What is something you have been growing in lately?
Overtime
“Heavenly Father, thank You for teaching us Your ways. You’re patient and kind and walk with us as we learn and grow. You are eager to forgive when we mess up and love for us to grow in our faith. Help us to continue pushing forward and become content in a weak state of faith. Help us to move forward and grow in our faith daily. Amen.”
Group