我们必须成长
哥林多前书三章1至9节
1弟兄们，我从前对你们说话，不能把你们当作属灵的，只得把你们当作属肉体，在基督里为婴孩的。
2我是用奶喂你们，没有用饭喂你们。那时你们不能吃，就是如今还是不能。
3你们仍是属肉体的，因为在你们中间有嫉妒、纷争，这岂不是属乎肉体、照着世人的样子行吗？
4有说：“我是属保罗的。”有说：“我是属亚波罗的。”这岂不是你们和世人一样吗？
5亚波罗算甚么？保罗算甚么？无非是执事，照主所赐给他们各人的，引导你们相信。
6我栽种了，亚波罗浇灌了，惟有神叫他生长。
7可见栽种的算不得甚么，浇灌的也算不得甚么，只在那叫他生长的神。
8栽种的和浇灌的，都是一样。但将来各人要照自己的工夫得自己的赏赐。
9因为我们是与神同工的；你们是神所耕种的田地，所建造的房屋。
信息分享
你曾否有过类似的想法或说过类似的话呢？我们很容易将自己与其他基督徒比较；然而，其他基督徒却非我们效法的标准；我们的标准乃是主自己。
自古至今，有许多没有成长的基督徒。新约时代的哥林多教会就出现严重的分门结党。问题的症结，在于他们当中有许多信徒仍是属灵的婴儿，完全没有成长。这岂不是许多教会出现纷争的原因吗？
我们怎能在基督里成长？要回答这个问题，我们要问：植物怎样成长？婴儿又怎样成长？只要有适当的营养、适当的照顾，以及在适当的环境下，植物和婴儿都会自然成长。
若要身体正常成长，就必须进食适当的食物来吸收营养。灵命成长也是一样。彼得曾经写道：「要爱慕那纯净的灵奶，像才生的婴孩爱慕奶一样，叫你们因此渐长，以致得救。」（彼前二2）
我们若不以神的话语作为每天的灵粮，灵命便不能成长。读经和研经的果效是非常显著的。诗篇第一篇指出，昼夜思想神话语的人，「要像一棵树栽在溪水旁，按时候结果子，叶子也不枯干」。
我们要每天进食，才能维持肉身的生命。有些时候，我们只是为了裹腹而进食，吃了甚么也不记得。但是，如果缺乏食物，我们就不能活下去了。
你每天读神的话语，未必如你所想的效果显著，可是，它却能产生长远的影响。每次读完圣经，都应该反思当中的含意。你可以特别挑选一节或一段经文，在当天余下的时间反复思想。思想——默想——实践；这就是你的成长之途了。
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.