Spiritual Maturity (Part 2)

Exercising our faith muscle.... where to begin?  Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 9:8, "and God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work."  Here Paul is writing about giving.  We know that giving includes our time and attention, not just our wallets and supplies, right?  Let's see:

• God gives us our faith muscle, our measure of faith  (Romans 12:3),
• God gives us grace so that we have all we need to abound in every good work (2Cor. 9:8),
• in God we move and breathe and have our be-ing (Acts 17:28), and
• anything we ask, believing, we'll receive (Matthew 21:22) to name a few;

are guarantees that we receive in Christ.  We already have all we need to be assured that we can grow in faith.  The kicker is:  growing our faith is WORK!
Now there's a concept! 
Remember the parable of the sower?  I think our struggle with faith is worst hit when we resemble the seed that fell among the thorns:  "The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature."  (Luke 8:14 NIV)  Unlike the those who fall away from the path without being saved, or those who hear but do not take root and fall away; those of us who have come to know and love the Lord but also have heavy investment in our life here on earth (and don't we all?), can get distracted by that investment and not grow.  You see, faith/ spiritual maturity takes time and effort.  We aren't magically zapped with growth.  Growth takes intentional time and work.
Our Pastor recently expounded on Webster's definition of maturity ("a psychological term used to indicate that a person responds to the circumstances or environment around them in an appropriate manner.  This response is learned rather than instinctual, and is not determined by one's age") to say that spiritual maturity is "a Christian/follower of Christ who responds Biblically to the circumstances, environment and spiritual battles around them in an apropriate Biblical manner that brings honor to God and His kingdom.  This response, as well, would be learned and would not be instinctual.  Nor would it be determined by one's age."  Maturing in faith takes work!
Work involves sacrifice of time and attention that we could be investing in other things:  tv, internet, computer games (uh oh, guilty me!) hanging out with friends, continuous overtime at work, taking the lead in every sport available, compulsive exercise/eating/sleeping.... and the list goes on. 
    Scripture study and prayer take time: intentional, devoted, meditative, quiet time.  Attending a Bible study means commitment to a time and other people.  Worshipping and studying with others means a lot of grace and forgiveness and compassion towards them, accepting differences and remembering WHO is at the center.  It's all work!  But, it GROWS us to be of greater useful service to the Lord.  Doesn't that make it worth it all?  Not to forget that is pleases the Lord.  It also gives us more confidence in our walk with the Lord. 
Putting this down in writing has helped me, I hope it's helpful to you.  May God bless each of us in our exercise of our faith muscle!