We’d
all like to believe that we’re growing. None of us wants to look back after
twenty, thirty, or forty years only to realize that we’re the same person we
were at eighteen; acting the same way, making the same decisions. Most of us
tend to equate change with growth. When life circumstances change we assume
we’re growing and maturing alongside. While change is inevitable and happens to
everyone, growth--- real growth requires concerted effort.
As
followers of Christ, too often we mistake our tenure as believers for Christian
maturity. We are fooled into believing that changes to life situations, whether
it is in ministry, career or family mean that we have learned to more closely
emulate Jesus. This is simply not true.
Rather,
Christian maturity comes with active cooperation with the Spirit of God as it
produces fruit in our life while we respond to its leading and properly apply
Scripture. We do not grow by osmosis or by sleeping with a Bible under our
pillows (or sleeping through a sermon! No! We’d never do that!)
More
than that, since the Lord designed us for community, we grow best when we are
engaged with other believers. We grow when we come to view the church less as a
social institution and more as an opportunity to learn, apply, and see the
example of Christ modeled by others. This is the type of environment we see demonstrated
by the first Christians who “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and
the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”
The
Christian life, rather than being a momentary acknowledgement of Christ, is a
persistent obedience motivated by love and gratitude to our Savior. It is
progressive conformity to the image of Christ. That progress occurs most often
when we partner with the Spirit and other believers. One day, Lord-willing, we
will look back upon our years and praise the Lord at how he has grown and
developed us.
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