My little girl drank only milk for the first few months of life.
And guess what?
That was all that she needed!
Her body only needed that milk, nothing more.
She had exactly what she needed for her healthy development.
But then she got a little older.
She needed to practice and learn how to deal with different textures and tastes.
Her body didn’t really need this other food, but she needed to prepare and practice for when that would be her only source of nutrition.
Sometimes she loved the new things she tried; other times, she would spit them back out.
Then she got even older, to the point that milk alone could no longer support her growing body.
She needed the nutrition from a variety of foods.
She needed to learn how to feed herself.
Do we see the parallels in our own gospel growth?
“I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.” (1 Corinthians 3:2)
It doesn’t really matter our age, or even if we were raised in the church.
We’ve gotta start with the basics.
Just go to church. Read your scriptures. Pray. Serve others when you can.
And that’s all that we need at first!
That’s what starts to mature us spiritually.
And then we start taking bites of the heartier meat of the gospel.
Truly studying the scriptures. Learning how to communicate better in prayer. Worshipping in the temple. Serving in a holier way.
Some of these new bites are hard to handle at first.
But the “milk” concepts are no longer quite cutting it on their own.
We recognize that we need something more in order to continue our spiritual growth.
The way I prayed when I was 8 years old looks very different than what “prayer” even means to me now.
But I needed that simple step of nice, easy instructions for prayer first.
We start with milk.
And then meat.
Sometimes we need to simplify and recenter ourselves with the basics.
And other times we know we are getting a little too comfortable, and feel a longing to deepen our relationship with Jesus Christ.
Which principle of the gospel are you ready to dive into more today?
Happy Studying!
-Cali Black
