我們必須成長
哥林多前書三章1至9節
1弟兄們，我從前對你們說話，不能把你們當作屬靈的，只得把你們當作屬肉體，在基督裡為嬰孩的。
2我是用奶餵你們，沒有用飯餵你們。那時你們不能吃，就是如今還是不能。
3你們仍是屬肉體的，因為在你們中間有嫉妒、紛爭，這豈不是屬乎肉體、照著世人的樣子行嗎？
4有說：“我是屬保羅的。”有說：“我是屬亞波羅的。”這豈不是你們和世人一樣嗎？
5亞波羅算甚麼？保羅算甚麼？無非是執事，照主所賜給他們各人的，引導你們相信。
6我栽種了，亞波羅澆灌了，惟有神叫他生長。
7可見栽種的算不得甚麼，澆灌的也算不得甚麼，只在那叫他生長的神。
8栽種的和澆灌的，都是一樣。但將來各人要照自己的工夫得自己的賞賜。
9因為我們是與神同工的；你們是神所耕種的田地，所建造的房屋。
信息分享
你曾否有過類似的想法或說過類似的話呢？我們很容易將自己與其他基督徒比較；然而，其他基督徒卻非我們效法的標準；我們的標準乃是主自己。
自古至今，有許多沒有成長的基督徒。新約時代的哥林多教會就出現嚴重的分門結黨。問題的癥結，在於他們當中有許多信徒仍是屬靈的嬰兒，完全沒有成長。這豈不是許多教會出現紛爭的原因嗎？
我們怎能在基督裡成長？要回答這個問題，我們要問：植物怎樣成長？嬰兒又怎樣成長？只要有適當的營養、適當的照顧，以及在適當的環境下，植物和嬰兒都會自然成長。
若要身體正常成長，就必須進食適當的食物來吸收營養。靈命成長也是一樣。彼得曾經寫道：「要愛慕那純淨的靈奶，像才生的嬰孩愛慕奶一樣，叫你們因此漸長，以致得救。」（彼前二2）
我們若不以神的話語作為每天的靈糧，靈命便不能成長。讀經和研經的果效是非常顯著的。詩篇第一篇指出，晝夜思想神話語的人，「要像一棵樹栽在溪水旁，按時候結果子，葉子也不枯乾」。
我們要每天進食，才能維持肉身的生命。有些時候，我們只是為了裹腹而進食，吃了甚麼也不記得。但是，如果缺乏食物，我們就不能活下去了。
你每天讀神的話語，未必如你所想的效果顯著，可是，它卻能產生長遠的影響。每次讀完聖經，都應該反思當中的含意。你可以特別挑選一節或一段經文，在當天餘下的時間反覆思想。思想——默想——實踐；這就是你的成長之途了。
WE NEED TO GROW
1 Corinthians 3: 1-9
1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.
2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;
3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?
4 For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?
5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one?
6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.
7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.
8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.
Message
Have you ever thought or spoken like that? It is easy to look at other Christians and compare yourself with them. But our model is Christ Himself, not other Christians.
Lack of growth in Christians is nothing new. There were serious divisions in the Corinthian church. Many of the Christians there were spiritual babies instead of being more mature. Is that the reason why there is often conflict in many churches?
How can we grow in Christ? How do plants grow? How does a baby grow? Given the right food, the right attention and environment, growth is automatic.
If regular food is necessary for physical growth, it is equally true for spiritual growth. Peter wrote, “Like newborn babes crave spiritual milk so that by it you may grow up in your salvation!” (1 Peter 2:2)
There is no growth spiritually apart from feeding on the Word of God. The results of reading, studying and feeding on God's Word are remarkable. Psalm 1 declares that the man who does that will be “like a tree planted by the streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and whose leaf does not wither.”
Daily meals maintain your physical life. They go by and are soon forgotten but without them you could not go on living.
Your regular readings of God's Word may not always be as productive as you might wish but their value is remarkable. After your reading, stop and think about what you have read.
Pick out one verse or phrase and keep it in mind for the next 24 hours. Think - meditate - apply. It is part of your means of growth.