Maturity is another ingredient of the Disciple Pathway because it is the goal of all our discipleship efforts. Whether preaching, teaching, praying, singing, Bible study, counseling, Sunday school, or Community Groups, we exist as a church to glorify God by making disciples and seeing disciples grow in Christlikeness. 

The Fruit of the Spirit, found in Ephesians 5:22-24, is a good standard for maturity. The first of those fruits, love, is what Jesus declared in John 13:35 as the mark of mature discipleship. 

We grow in Christlikeness both by personal spiritual disciplines and by corporate disciplines. We need each other to grow in this love. 

Paul would say in Ephesians 4:15-16, "Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love."

Let's promote a culture of discipleship by letting our love for God and one another be the measure of maturity.