Day 23 - How We Grow
February 22, 2005 – 9:29 pm | by Duncan
God wants us to grow up…
Like Christ in everything.
Ephesians 4:15a (The Message)We are not meant to remain as children.
Ephesians 4:14a (Phillips Translation)
Today’s material provides the challenge of an ongoing development of maturity in relationship with Jesus.
Rick Warren starts by reminding us of the importance of making a commitment to following Jesus. I may not have had much idea of what that would cost when I first started as follower of Jesus, but over time the initial commitment has grown in its depth.
He provides a useful interpretation of the verse from Philippians:
“Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:12-13, New International Version)
Warren tells us that the note from Paul is not about how to be ’saved’ . It’s about how to ‘grow’.
I like the idea of changing autopilot - changing the thought patterns at the heart of who we are. Repenting - having my whole perspective on life - is a bit like reframing. I see the whole of life through the eyes of Jesus. That means moving from being self-centred to mature focus on others. It’s about growing in relational capacity - being able t o relate to others with conduct and character of Jesus. Yes, it is counter-cultural, rare and difficult. But it is not unnatural. Living a loving lifestyle redefines what natural is. This is the natural way God would have us live in.
I think this concept of growth could be taken further in terms of integrity. Growth in maturity would mean that what we believe and what we say and what we do measure up with each other. Growing in maturity in Christ means that all of who we are is growing to resonate with who Christ is. Our lives are centred on him rather than just on ourselves.
I wonder too about the model that Jesus gives us - in which he himself grew in maturity while living here on Earth. The growth from child to adult. The growth in his understanding of his relationship with others around him. In particular his growing realisation that his gifts were there to be a blessing for outsiders just as people of his own kind. I’m thinking of the Syro-Phoenician woman who challenged Jesus to rethink his attitude towards the non-Jewish peoples.