For you are still only baby Christians, controlled by your own desires, not God’s. When you are jealous of one another and divide up into quarrelling groups, doesn’t that prove you are still babies, wanting your own way? In fact, you are acting like people who don’t belong to the Lord at all.

1 Corinthians 3:3 (TLB)

There is nothing more important in the Christian life than learning we are loved by God and learning to love others with His love. In his first letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul wrote a lot above love. He was dealing with a group of believers who, although they ought to have grown in their faith, had nevertheless relapsed to old sins and worldly ways.

These spiritually immature or carnal Christians are saved, but self-centred. This creates a great strain and tension in their community life and their ministry. When genuine love is absent from the church, something is seriously wrong. It means that we have forgotten who we are and what we are called to be as sons and daughters of God.

When there is a gap between what we believe and how we live, we will need to encounter the gospel once more and experience its transforming power again. Arrested spiritual development makes us more vulnerable to spiritual attacks and weakens our spiritual health. This explains why the Corinthians struggled so much.

God’s desire for us is that we know and live out our true identity in Christ. If we will give ourselves over and surrender to Him, God will grow and mature us spiritually through the presence and power of His Spirit dwelling within us. We will not only break free from the destructive spiritual effects of sin but will also begin to live a life of love as God intended.

When we learn to live in accordance with the truth that we are loved by God beyond measure, we are free to love and serve without expecting something in return. Our spiritual growth will not only benefit us but also contribute to the overall well-being of our church family.