Maturity Analysis

This Maturity Analysis diagram visually illustrates the core components of Christian maturity, which is not an exhaustive list. At the center is a human figure, representing the believer. Surrounding the believer are 11 “companions” or practices that support and cultivate their maturity in Christ—in no particular order:

• Evangelize
• Discipleship
• Friends
• Serving
• Singing
• Memorize
• Bible
• Prayer
• Church
• Counseling (uniquely colored to represent its seasonal nature)

The central verse, 1 Corinthians 15:33, warns that “bad company corrupts good morals,” reinforcing that we become like those we walk with. In this context, the “companions” are not merely people, but disciplines, rhythms, and structures that shape and surround a maturing Christian life.

What It Means: This graphic is not a checklist but a diagnostic grid for self-examination and discipleship. Each companion represents a vital aspect of growing in grace and being conformed into the image of Christ. Their absence often reveals areas of spiritual neglect or stagnation.

• Church: The foundational context for Christian growth. A believer outside the local church is functionally isolated from the primary place where sanctification happens.
• Prayer: Not passive meditation, but active, engaged, persistent communion with the Father.
• Bible and Memorize: Feeding daily on God’s Word and storing it in the heart ensures truth is always within reach, especially in temptation or trial.
• Singing: A heart posture of worship, even if expressed quietly. The Spirit-filled life overflows in melody (Ephesians 5:19).
• Serving: Following Christ’s model, a mature believer gives their life away in practical love.
• Friends and Discipleship: These relationships should sharpen and challenge. Not every friend disciples, but every Christian needs both kinds.
• Evangelize: The outward overflow of an inward transformation. A disciple becomes a discipler.
• Counseling is the exception: a temporary, intensive companion that assists a believer through a unique season of difficulty, dysfunction, or disobedience. It is not meant to remain indefinitely but to catalyze transformation and restore the believer to full engagement with the rest of the companions.

How to Use It in Discipleship: Use this tool with counselees and disciples as a mirror. Ask:

• “Which of these companions are consistently present in your life?”
• “Which ones are seasonal and which ones are missing altogether?”
• “Why are they missing, and what thoughts drive those omissions?”

This infographic creates a framework for intentional, gospel-centered conversation that moves beyond behavior into the thoughts, worship patterns, and belief systems under the surface.

Diagnostic: In nearly every case, the person who walks into counseling does not have this kind of interactive, engaged Christian lifestyle. They come isolated, cut off from the very companions God has provided to bring them to maturity in Christ. And while we speak without condemnation, we must not shrink back from speaking with courageous clarity.

You must help them see that this is not a personality issue or a circumstantial quirk. It is a discipleship emergency.

God has designed sanctification to happen within a contextualized, body-centered life, grounded in the local church. That’s not an accessory to the Christian walk, it’s the environment in which true Christian living takes root and grows. These companions: corporate worship, meaningful friendships, prayer, Bible intake, memorization, discipleship, service, evangelism, are not optional. They are normal. They are expected. And they are essential.

Without this robust lifestyle, two outcomes are likely:

• • The individual may become a professional counselee—dependent on an artificial, one-way relationship to manage their sanctification.
  • More tragically, they will live a stagnant, marginalized Christian life, spiritually withering on the edges of the body of Christ, assuming they are a Christian at all.

Counseling must always aim to restore the believer to the body, not as a checkbox, but as a lifeline. If they won’t pursue the body of Christ, they’re not pursuing Christ. Our role is not to make counseling their long-term solution but to urge them, biblically and lovingly, into the God-ordained community that nourishes the soul and shapes maturity. Anything less than that is a counterfeit form of Christian living.

Case Study: Biff the Isolated Christian

Biff came to counseling exhausted, confused, and discouraged. His marriage was strained, he struggled with pornography, and he often said, “I just feel distant from God.” But as the counseling process unfolded, it became clear: Biff wasn’t surrounded by any of the companions in the Maturity Analysis.

• No church: He had stopped attending months ago because “he didn’t get anything out of it.”
• No Bible intake: His Bible sat unopened most weeks.
• No prayer life: He only talked to God when desperate.
• No friends: He had casual work acquaintances, but no one who truly knew him.
• No serving: Life revolved around himself and his job.
• No singing, no memorization, no evangelism, no discipleship.

His life was siloed. And he was drowning.

In this season, counseling became a lifeline, but only as a means of reintroducing the other companions. Through the counseling process, Biff was lovingly confronted with the truth that Christian maturity isn’t about instant transformation or emotional highs—it’s about faithfully participating in the means of grace. The question wasn’t “how do you feel close to God?” but rather, “are you walking in the paths He’s laid out for your growth?”

Slowly, Biff began reintegrating:

• He rejoined his local church and met weekly with a men’s group.
• He began a prayer journal.
• He started serving in the tech ministry.
• He memorized one verse per week.
• He reached out to a younger man in the church to disciple.

As these companions took root, the need for counseling began to fade. The seasonal support gave way to long-term community. What transformed Biff was not a therapist’s brilliance—but the grace of God, expressed through faithful engagement with the ordinary means of grace.

This infographic offers more than analysis, it offers hope. For the believer stuck in a rut or the counselee who can’t figure out why growth feels elusive, this tool helps uncover the relational and devotional absences that often explain much of the spiritual stagnation. Surround the struggling Christian with these companions, not perfectly, but persistently, and you’ll see gospel transformation, one obedient step at a time.

Find all our graphics here.

Peace,
Rick