One thing most children have in common is a desire to grow up. They look forward to being big and experiencing life from the perspective of someone who has advanced beyond childhood. Whether that involves going to school or getting a driver’s license, the privileges and opportunities that attend maturity lead children to aspire to growth. Adults expect children to grow as well. When they fail to develop and mature, it is abnormal and therefore cause for concern. Scripture encourages such desires and expectations for believers. Peter writes, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation” (1 Peter 2:2). He commands us to desire that which will enable our spiritual growth (“milk of the word”; NASB) so that by it we mature into the salvation that is ours in Christ.
