What is spiritual maturity and how do Christians gauge it?

Spiritual maturity is defined by the website All About God as the growth in knowledge and understanding of God's Word attained by Christians. As their knowledge grows, their penchant for sin decreases and they will have more Christ-like qualities. Their faith and trust in God will find a significant boost as well.

Attaining spiritual maturity sounds like a wonderful thing, but not everybody gets it. The progress of some believers may be much slower compared to their neighbours, friends, or even family members, according to Faith Wire. Even though they're doing all the right things such as praying, going to church, and reading the Bible, there's no guarantee that they will become spiritually mature

So what gives? For Christian speaker, poet and hip-hop artist Jackie Hill Perry, there's one thing Christians need to conquer. "I think the stumbling block to a lot of people's maturity is the idea that sanctification is just going to magically happen isolated from any effort or discipline," Perry said in a video posted on her Facebook page.

She referenced the Bible and suggested that Christians "work out your salvation with fear and trembling that's not theoretical. Literally work out what God has started within you. What God has begun within you because of the gospel."

If Christians feel frustrated because of the slow movement of their journey, Perry said they should blame no one but themselves. "God is not the one to blame for your immaturity," she said, adding that it would help if people continuously rely on the Word of God.

One netizen asked Perry how Christians can overcome their "lack of zeal" for God's Word. The insightful woman answered, "I believe faith is the source of zeal. A lack of zeal for God must reveal a blindness to His glory as revealed in the scriptures. Therefore to reverse it means to be like the psalmist who thirsted for God (Psalms 42) because he recognised that His soul NEEDED God. The needy Christian is the zealous Christian."