If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. - 1 Corinthians 13:1–2
Why do we so often assume that the most gifted people in the church are also the most spiritually mature?
The truth is, gifting and spiritual maturity are not the same thing. Stay with me for a moment—let me explain.
A person can move in powerful spiritual gifts and still struggle with serious character issues. You may be graced with the gift of prophecy, words of knowledge, words of wisdom, or any of the other gifts of the Spirit. You might be a seer, or carry a strong gift of discernment of spirits. These gifts are real, and they have an important place in the body of Christ.
But gifts alone don't determine spiritual maturity or establish rank in the Spirit.
The real question: what are you like when no one's watching?
You can pray in tongues, lay hands on the sick, and speak an accurate word—and still, the deeper question remains: how do you treat people outside of ministry? What does your private prayer life actually look like? Do you open God's Word when there's no audience and no applause?
Are you becoming more like Christ in how you think, speak, and treat the people around you? Are you walking in love, humility, purity, kindness, patience, self-control, and obedience?
These are the things that matter most to God. He isn't impressed by public displays of your gifts while your private character remains undeveloped. Gifts reveal what God has entrusted to you. Character reveals how faithfully you're stewarding it.
The church in Corinth was rich in spiritual gifts, yet Paul rebuked them for behaving like "mere humans" and as infants in Christ (1 Cor. 3:1–3).
Although they were actively exercising spiritual gifts, they were still spiritually immature. Their jealousy, divisions, and worldly attitudes revealed that they still needed spiritual milk instead of solid food. This tells us that operating in the gifts of the Spirit isn't the same as growing in the character of Christ. Spiritual gifts are evidence of God's grace, but spiritual maturity is revealed by a transformed life.
Let's also take a look at Matthew 7:15–20:
Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.
Notice something important in this passage. False prophets aren't called false because their prophecies are wrong. They're called false because their fruit doesn't match the tree they claim to grow from. Their character and their actions don't line up with the God they claim to represent.
Gifts are given, but good fruit is cultivated over time through a life genuinely surrendered to God.
Look at the fruit, not just the gift
So, if you want to measure someone's spiritual stance, don't stop at the gifts flowing through them. Look at what's actually growing from their life. Look at the fruit—because that's what reveals spiritual maturity, far more than any gift ever could.
And the same question turns back on each of us.
Let's take an honest look at our own life today. Not our platform, or our gifting, or how impressive we sound in a room full of people, but the unseen places. Our patience with our family. Our integrity when a shortcut would be easier. Our posture towards God when no one's monitoring us. That's where fruit actually grows, and that's where real spiritual maturity is formed.
Let's stop chasing bigger gifts and start pursuing deeper roots in Christ, our Firm Foundation.
#becomingavessel
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