Summary: <p>The primary reason we don’t use our gifts is because we don’t love people, and the reason we don’t love people is because we haven’t understood God’s love for us.<br><br>You may be using your spiritual gifts and not be spiritual, but you will not be spiritual if you are not using your gifts.<br><br>Someone says they are spiritual and I say show me how you are using your gifts to build up the church.<br>Someone says they are spiritually mature, and I say show me how you are using your gifts to build up the church.<br><br>On the internet you have all these self-appointed spiritual gurus, particularly on Facebook, who think their spiritual gift is to critique others. I ask, “How is this building up the Church?” Are they critiquing Joyce Meyers, or Joel Osteen out of compassion, love, and gentleness? Often, its not spirituality, even if they are right. It’s seeking self-worth by putting others down.<br><br>Jesus during His earthly ministry was not OK with religious people calling the work of the Spirit, the work of the Devil, and He’s not OK with calling the work of the flesh, our fallen base nature, the work of the Spirit, either.<br><br>Gifts are the means of loving one another. If you have a gift and you aren’t using it to serve people in the church, you are missing the point.<br><br>If you don't use gift it's because you don't have love to give and the love u need is Gods love bc it's infinite leaving you with more than enough to give away.<br><br>1. According to Ephesians 4:11–13, how does maturity happen?<br>11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 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. <br><br>2. Knowing this is God's design, what are some ways you can help make sure this process happens in your own life?<br><br>3. How important in the process described in Ephesians 4 is being committed to a local church? Why?<br><br>4. What is one of the primary things we could look at, as mentioned in the sermon, in order to determine our maturity level? ANSWER: our conflict resolution<br><br>5. What does handling conflict with maturity look like? Please describe it? Speak to facets like, how long should it take before you go to the person? What if you have been sinned against, whose responsibility is it to confront? Should we wait till we feel like forgiving to forgive? etc.<br><br>6. Based on how you resolve conflict in your own life, how mature would you say you are? Would those close to you agree? <br><br>7. Where do you have room to grow in this area?<br><br>8. Maturity is not equivalent to how old you are. Maturity is not equivalent to how much you know. Maturity is not equivalent to how many spiritual gifts you have Which of these stood out to you? Please explain.<br><br>9. Please go through the following list and ask members of the group to confess areas they are still immature in and ask them what they plan to do about it:<br><br>Immaturity<br><br>Taking things personally<br>Holding grudges<br>Makes the Church responsible for their spiritual growth.<br>Thinking your environment has to be a certain way for u to thrive<br>Happiness means acquisition of things<br>I'm unique and no no one has my struggles<br>I’m the exception to orthodox or standard Christianity<br>Thinking God works on your timing<br>Jumping to conclusions <br>Needing others to validate ur sense of self worth<br>Serving for the praise of people and getting angry when u do t get it<br>Cut themselves off from their mentor and instead prefer the company of those complicit with their apathy.<br>Thinking the voices in your head are the Holy Spirit<br>Jumping into ministry before counting the cost<br>Make decisions but can’t keep them and complain about what they committed to.<br>Get easily distracted from their mission<br>Start things they don’t finish due to neglect or forgetfulness.<br>Force others to walk on eggshells around them lest they be offended. Certain topics are passively declared off limits.<br>Stay on the outskirts or periphery of community lest they experience accountability.<br>Define the Church as a loose connection of Christians acquaintances in order to avoid accountability.<br>Immature Christians are their own pastors and deacons to themselves.<br>Immature Christians claim revelation from the Holy Spirit that is contrary to revelation from Scripture.<br>Immature Christians talk about the person instead of going to the person.<br>10. Please go through the following list and ask members which areas they want to grow in maturity and which areas they believe they have experienced growth in maturity:<br>Mature Christians let Jesus reign in every area of their lives, immature Christians compartmentalize and giving him only sections while seeking to be their own God in every other <a href="http://area.They" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">area.They</a> make Jesus not King of their life but merely a figurehead with no real power. They don’t submit to His will, they submit to their own will.<br>Mature Christians are marked by humility<br>Mature Christians not only know God’s word, but they apply God’s Word beginning with themselves.<br>Mature Christians live to serve others.<br>Mature Christians love people who don’t yet love Jesus.<br>Mature Christians are able to learn from people who are less mature than they are.<br>Mature Christians set and live out personal standards that are higher for themselves than they are for other people.<br>Mature Christians seek out the truth for the purpose of repentance and change.<br>Mature Christians seek out discipleship.<br>Mature Christians seek out accountability.<br>Mature Christians seek out transparency.<br>Mature Christians make wise commitments and follow through with them over time.<br>Mature Christians take initiative in serving and meeting the needs of others.<br>Mature Christians submit plans to wise leadership for confirmation.<br>Mature Christians understand the needs of the many are greater than personal preferences.<br>Mature Christians often serve outside their comfort zone.<br>Mature Christians seek out and submit to Spirit ordained leadership as a means of submitting to God’s Word, as a means of submitting to King Jesus.<br>11. Are you willing to call out the areas where you are immature?<br>12. Are you willing to let a mature Christians speak into your life and advise you where you need to grow in maturity?<br><br>13. Are you willing to struggle against the areas in your life where you are immature and to begin to respond in different ways than you did in the past.<br><br>14. Are you willing to ask forgiveness from God and from those who have been on the receiving end of your immaturity?</p>
