Nothing does more for my spirit than talking about the LORD to the people of the LORD. I especially love talking about the things that will help us mature in Christ. There is one man in the New Testament who models Christian maturity.
Epaphras was a fellow worker of Paul. While Paul was imprisoned in Roman, Epaphras ministered to the church at Colossae in his stead. Then he brought a report on the health of the church to Paul in Rome. Paul was so cheered in his heart by what he heard that he wrote the wonderful epistle to the Colossians, which Epaphras took back with him to his flock.
Perhaps what Epaphras should be most noted for is his prayer life. Paul writes of him, “He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God. I can assure you that he prays hard for you and also for the believers in Laodicea and Hierapolis.” [Colossians 4:12-13 NLT]
It was the desire of Epaphras, and of course Paul, that those they ministered to would stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. That brings me back to a question of what constitutes Christian maturity. The word Paul used is teleios (tel’-i-os). It is sometimes translated as “perfect” and means to be complete in labor, growth, mental and moral character, etc.
Maturity comes when we can stand firm in the will of God, no matter what His will brings into our lives. It means we are fully confident of the goodness of God even when beset with trials and surrounded by evil. It is so much more than merely years spent since our conversion – we can be saved for decades and still not be mature. Maturity requires determined cooperation with the Spirit of God in our lives to become more like Jesus every day. Amen&Amen