He Must Increase...

He must increase, but I must decrease. (John 3:30).

"What is spiritual growth? What is spiritual maturity? What is it to go on in the Lord? I fear we have got mixed ideas about this. Many think that spiritual maturity is a more comprehensive knowledge of Christian doctrine, a larger grasp of scriptural truth, a wider expanse of the knowledge of the things of God; and many such features are recorded as marks of growth, development, spiritual maturity. Beloved, it is nothing of the kind.

The hallmark of true spiritual development and maturity is this, that we have grown so much less and the Lord Jesus has grown so much more. The mature soul is one who is small in his or her own eyes, but in whose eyes the Lord Jesus is great. That is growth. We may know a very great deal, have a wonderful grasp of doctrine, of teaching, of truth, even of the Scriptures, and yet be spiritually very small, very immature, very childish. (There is all the difference between being childish and child-like.) Real spiritual growth is just this: I decrease, He increases. It is the Lord Jesus becoming more. You can test spiritual growth by that."

From: The Cross and the Way of Life - Chapter 4 by T. Austin Sparks

The above has got me to thinking....I agree with it, yet it leaves me wondering...Can we have spiritual growth without scriptural knowledge of Jesus Christ? No, I don't think we can. Yet in our seeking out the truth of who He is, we can make that intellectual understanding our pursuit instead of knowing the Person of Jesus. It may take only a little head knowledge of Christ to give great heart growth, while a mind filled with facts can sometimes block the way to the heart.

Remember when you were first saved? How much did you know "about" Him then? Not much, if you were like me. But that little that I did know made Him so huge in my heart. He was all that I thought about. My love for Him sprang up into a beautiful tree, from such a small seed of understanding. And then again, there were times in my walk that I have let chasing after understanding of truth eclipse that simple, child-like wonder and trust that I had in Him. Like all things, I guess it is something that has to be constantly checked, and kept in a balance. The bottom line for me is, I wouldn't trade what I know of Him experientially for all the intellectual understanding of Him in the world.