Solid Food

Text: 1 Corinthians 3:2-3
I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? (NRSV)

As we grow in our Christianity, we are in the process of being sanctified.  By that I mean that we are being changed from one who walks in the flesh to one who walks in the spirit.  We are moving from those who are primarily concerned with worldly things to those who are focused on the things of God.

In this text, Paul is calling out the Corinthians as those who are not growing in their walk with Jesus.  They are still infants when it comes to their faith.  What is his evidence?  They are still quarreling among themselves.

I think this text hits me harder today than it has in the past because we are living in a nation that was founded on the principles of God and yet today, we are in the process of impeaching a sitting president for the second time.  We are quarreling about what is right and what is wrong.  We are quarreling about who we trust and who we believe.  We are quarreling about the very nature of truth and lies.

All of this makes me wonder about how far away I am from being mature in my faith.  I wonder if all these years I have only been fed with milk and have never been ready for solid food.  I have begun the process of examining my emotions each time I recognize that I am beginning to be angry or anxious, or unforgiving, or unloving over something I have heard or seen.  I am learning to recognize these responses in my spirit and asking God to guide me through the discovery of why these emotions are surfacing within me.

The point of this exercise is to recognize when I am letting the things of this world take over my relationship with God.  I am trying to ferret out any excuses I have for not being what God has called me to be.  My reconciliation with God and my spiritual growth depend on my honesty with myself.  I cannot ask for forgiveness if I have not even recognized my need for forgiveness.

Are you ready for the solid food of God as you grow in your faith?  Have you examined your emotions to see if they are driven by the evil of the world or the love of God?  Are you recognizing times when you are letting the things of this world take over your relationship with God and relying on excuses instead of forgiveness?

Pray with me:

God forgive me when I allow my emotions to be controlled by the evil of this world instead of the love you have poured into me through your Son, Jesus the Christ.  Help me to recognize the times I have stifled my own spiritual growth because I have ignored the greater truth you have for me so that I might seek forgiveness and not excuses for my behavior.  AMEN.

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