“And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52).
God loves us just the way we are.
- There is nothing we can do to earn or merit God’s love. It is all grace. It is all God.
- There is nothing we can do to make God stop from loving us. God loves us and there is nothing we can do about it!
- There are no conditions to God loving us. God doesn’t say “When you’ve stopped sinning,” or “When you’re a better person,” I will love you. God really does love us just the way we are.
But, because God loves us, God cannot leave us where we are. God wants us to grow. God wants us to be better than who we are right now. God wants us to grow in wisdom. God wants us to grow to be more like him.
- God cannot leave us mired in sin.
- God cannot leave us as we are when he saved us.
- God makes us better. God makes us more like him.
If Jesus had to grow up and grow in his wisdom, certainly we need to grow up and grow in wisdom. It’s not enough just to show up to church. God wants us to grow up – to grow in wisdom, grow in knowledge, grow in service, grow in impact for the kingdom.
Lastly, the journey of growth is lifelong. So, don’t get discouraged when you can’t see improvement day by day. The way spiritual maturity works is that you can only tell in time. You should be a better you today than you were three years ago. But, are you going to be able to tell if you are a better version of you today than you were yesterday? If you can, great! If you can’t, it’s okay. Just keep following Jesus.
The goal of spiritual maturity is not perfection.
The goal of spiritual maturity is progress.
Keep growing. Keep obeying. Keep following Jesus.
Praxis: Faith in Action 