Why Spiritual Maturity Isn’t About Knowing It All

I used to think maturity in faith looked like a chalkboard covered with answers.

Every verse had a tidy explanation, every question had a bullet-point response. If someone asked me about suffering, I’d have a theological paragraph ready.

If they brought up doubt, I had a proof-text waiting. It felt impressive for a while. But deep down, not so much.

Somewhere along the way, I confused being “answer-ready” with being Spirit-led. It’s easy to cling to certainty because it makes us feel safe. But certainty and maturity are not the same thing.

Jesus Didn’t Hand Out Answer Keys

Read through the Gospels and notice something strange: Jesus was constantly being asked questions — and half the time He responded with a question of His own.

“Who do you say that I am?”“What do you want me to do for you?”“Do you love me?”

If maturity meant being able to hand over airtight answers, Jesus didn’t model it. Instead, He invited people into conversation, tension, and even silence. That’s unsettling for those of us raised to think discipleship equals downloading information into our brains.

Do you know what I mean, or am I the only one who was standing in that box with a false bottom?

There’s a Beauty in Not Knowing All the Answers

The older I get, the more comfortable I’ve become with the phrase, I don’t know. And strangely enough, that phrase feels like progress. Spiritual maturity looks less like a vault of answers and more like a posture of love and humility.

Think about it: love doesn’t require perfect explanations. If a child asks, “Why is the sky blue?” and you stumble through an answer, they don’t love you less.

They’re not looking for a scientific breakdown — they’re looking for the response of your presence. In the same way, God isn’t impressed by how fast we can flip through our mental index of Bible trivia. He’s after hearts that stay open, even when our heads are foggy.

Growth Looks Like Fruit, Not Flashcards

Paul said it plainly in Galatians: the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Notice he didn’t say the fruit of the Spirit is knowing all the correct answers.

Fruit grows slowly. It requires sunlight, water, and time. It can’t be crammed for like an exam. Real maturity is measured not by how fast we can win a debate, but by how deeply we can embody respect and love for those who disagree with me.

When Answers Become Idols

Here’s the danger: sometimes we worship certainty instead of Christ. We prop up our systems of answers as if they can save us. But when life collapses — when the awful diagnosis comes, when the prayer seems to go unanswered, when the job disappears — our neat answers crumble too.

A Faith That Breathes

Spiritual maturity isn’t about stacking up theological bricks until you build an impenetrable wall. It’s more like planting a garden: alive, unpredictable, and in constant need of tending. Gardens change with the seasons. So does faith.

The Psalms give us permission to rage, weep, rejoice, and question — all in the same breath. David was called “a man after God’s own heart,” not because he had everything figured out, but because he kept showing up with his whole self.

What Do We Do With This?

So if maturity isn’t about having all the answers, what is it about? Here are a few thoughts:

• Learning to listen. Instead of rushing to respond, let people wrestle. Sometimes the holiest thing we can say is, “Tell me more.”

• Holding tension. Faith often lives in the in-between, where we’re sure of God’s love but unsure of the details.

• Trusting presence. Answers may fail, but presence — ours with each other, and God’s with us — never does.

  
  

The Paradox of Growth

Here’s the paradox: the more spiritually mature you become, the less pressure you feel to have it all nailed down.

The questions don’t disappear, but your anxiety about them does. You realize that the goal was never to master God like a subject in school.

The goal was to know Him, love Him, and let His love change you.

Final Thought

Spiritual maturity isn’t a diploma you hang on the wall. It’s more like a long walk with a friend. Some days you talk. Some days you sit in silence. Some days you argue. But the point is that you keep walking together.

So don’t beat yourself up if you don’t have all the answers. You weren’t meant to.

Maturity isn’t about knowing everything — it’s about trusting the One who does.

© Gary L Ellis