For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. Romans 12:3 (NKJV)

We are impatient. When someone comes to faith in Christ, we expect Christian understanding to immediately affect her patterns of living. It usually does but not as completely as we would all like to see it.

The problem with this is that the more mature Christian, rather than stepping up to mentor or teach the new Christian, wants to tell her what to do. The difference is that when a person learns from the study or preaching of God’s Word, rather than a “you can’t do that,” it sticks.

A person who is convicted of sin because she understands scripture is far more likely to stay with the corrected behavior than the one who is repeatedly told of her sin without the benefit of biblical understanding.

Everyone needs a teacher. God, through His Holy Spirit, can do this work in us without any other human interaction, but what a gift for that new Christian who has a person to help her navigate the scriptures as she learns.

Romans 12:3 (at top) tells us that not everyone has the same measure of faith. The process of sanctification (spiritual growth) is different for all. Many factors come into play from upbringing and life circumstances to the theology of the local church.

We can be prideful in our expectations of others by assuming that they will grow as we think they should rather than in the way God ordered for them. This verse tells me that He is a personal God. Each one is given what He determines, not what we determine.

Will we be patient with our brothers and sisters in the Lord as we offer them the rich spiritual food in the Word of God? Will we acknowledge their efforts even if we aren’t seeing the progress we think should be there? We can admonish regarding sin without humiliating the sinner.

The scripture tells us what to look for in a new believer:

• One who believes in God who sent Christ (John 6:29).
• One who shows love for Christ by wanting to keep His commandments (John 14:15).
• One who shows signs of change (2 Corinthians 5:17)

If we see the fruit, or just the bud of these three, we can be patient with how the Lord will grow her faith from there.

Let’s teach new (or immature) believers one more truth early on. It’s from 1 John 5:3, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.”

Do we believe, and will we teach the faithful child of God, that she must keep His commandments and she will see that they are not burdensome. The world will tell her differently.

Are we making sure she will hear the truth by “being there” when she has questions?