Isaiah 57:19 I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord; and I will heal him.

“He is such a happy baby.”

While that thought brings joy to my ears, I also know this; “You are not around him twenty-four hours a day.” Perhaps our weakest comparison between a natural baby and a babe in Christ is in the arena of subjection. A baby is subject to parenting. Who is the forty year old babe in Christ in subjection to in his spiritual life? Even if you are wise enough to come under subjection, they are not with you all the time.

Babies get cranky for a number of reasons. Some whine, some cry, and some scream. Parenting is easier with experience. So is mentoring or discipleship. The larger problem with the babes in Christ is a tendency to not fuss or cry. We hide things which should be attended to in our spiritual growth manly because we care about what people think about us.

Spiritual training will only show you how this all works in Kingdom living, it does nothing to heal us of any personal growth issues. Confession of condition, or at least allowing yourself to be real and be fussy if you feel that way is needed to get the healing required.

Exposing the real you to others is not easy. We worried that they might not like us, understand us, and worst of all judge us. It is better to be diagnosed than to remain sick.

One of the better parts of having an accountability partner is putting enough trust into the relationship to be real. Then when things are going badly they can see something is wrong. “You aren’t being yourself today. What’s wrong?” Only someone who truly loves you can say that. We all need others in our lives to know us well enough to be able to say that.

Matthew 19:14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

Much can be said about this saying but I am going to avoid all of them. I want to speak about little children and the order in growth. Which comes first to little children, speech, walking, or understanding?

While my first grandchild was very young and could not walk or talk, I discovered she was signing to the waitress at the restaurant as a deaf person would. My daughter taught her sign language as a form of communication because she understood and would get frustrated when she could not make herself known verbally.

Children understand in ways they cannot communicate as they would like because they have not matured enough in the area of speech. It is no different with being a little child in Christ. There is an understanding by faith which they have not yet learned to express in ways that they would like. This is complicated by a mind that is fully developed and trained in how to communicate in a language that is not of faith.

As my daughter did for my granddaughter, we should help new Christians develop communication skills that avoid frustration. Do not be critical of a new Christian’s inability to express themselves clearly. Walking by faith is not as easily learned as walking on two feet. Do not expect too much and be patient with them.

If you are a new Christian, be patient with yourself. Small growth is better than falling because you are getting ahead of yourself. Do not think less of yourself if it seems others are learning faster.

2 Corinthians 10:12 For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.