Our Heavenly Father expects us all to grow in our Christian faith (2 Peter 3:18). If you refuse to grow, you may end up keeping God in an endless state of waiting for you to grow. Unfortunately, while God waits for you to grow, you may end up losing certain crucial things to others who grow up faster. For how long will you remain a babe? How long do you expect God to wait for you? Keeping God waiting can definitely affect His original plan for the life of some of His children. The night is far spent, and the Lord's return is around the corner; therefore we cannot afford to slow down the growth process.

Your level of maturity determines the level of relationship you have with God, and in turn, the level of your relationship determines the communication channels that are open to you from heaven (Numbers 12:6-. It also determines your understanding of and response to God's word. As a result of this, you can expect different responses to the same word from God by different children of God. Take for instance, if you tell three Christians at different maturity levels that God loves them, they will see it in different ways. When a baby Christian hears "God loves you", he will rejoice because this reminds him of his triumphant state. He will remember Romans 8:37 which says,
"Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us."

When you tell an adult Christian "God loves you", he will inquisitively ask why you are saying this to him, because this reminds him of responsibility: for whosoever the Father loves, he chastises (Hebrews 12:6). On the other hand, when you tell a bone-cracking Christian "God loves you", he will be a lot more apprehensive. He will say "Amen; may God have mercy." He is saying this because it reminds him of sacrifice: for whosoever the Father loves, He sacrifices (Genesis 22:2, Ephesians 5:2). God the Father was so pleased with Jesus that He sacrificed Him to redeem the world (John 3:16). When God wanted to proved to the world that there was no God above Him, what did He do? He sent His outstanding sons, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abegnego, into fire. When He wanted to show His supremacy over lions, what did He do? He allowed His beloved Daniel to go into the lion's den. How will you respond now when I say to you that God loves you? Can God trust you enough to send you on tough assignments that will bring honour and praise to His Name?
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.