Three Activities for Those Who Want to Grow Up in Christ
Do you want to grow up in Christ? Are you ready to move beyond milk to meat? Are you ready to dive into deeper waters and experience more of what Christ has for you? Join me.
Your goal is to become like Christ. Regardless of all the other goals you may have, this one takes priority. You want to become like Christ and shine his glory, his love, his care into every corner of your world.
Every pain, every challenge, every suffering offers you the opportunity to identify with Christ in his sufferings and become more like him. Every opportunity to comfort another person becomes an opportunity to be the hand and feet of Jesus. Every load of laundry you do, every meal you fix, every sock you match becomes an opportunity to serve like Jesus.
When the goal is becoming like Christ, the path is much clearer. But to keep the goal of becoming like Christ in sight, you have to be looking at Christ. And the best way to look at Jesus is to be in his word day-in and day-out. Although you really can see Jesus from Genesis to Revelation, the simplest way to fix your eyes on him is to sit in the gospels with the singular goal of coming face-to-face with Jesus.
Maturity keeps a singular mindset and is not thrown off course by what's on the periphery. Here's a reading plan that will give you 40 days of fixing your eyes on Jesus. Your goal is to become like Christ. Keep the goal in focus.
As you grow in Christ, you will be so excited about what God is revealing to you. You will want other people to see, to understand, to experience Christ in the way that you are coming to see, understand, and experience him. The Holy Spirit will whisper to you, and make connections between passages, and give you biblical understanding of what is happening in the world around you.
Maturity knows when to share, and when to hold back. How much to share, and when to stop. Maturity also understands that NONE of us are going to get it all completely right. We are all going to have theological correction when we Christ returns.
So, if we are going to grow up into Christ, we're also going to walk in humility, not divide from people who see things differently from us, and keep the main thing the main thing. We'll joyfully receive the understanding God give us. But we will wisely determine what is appropriate to share with others. We won't feel compelled to convince others that our understanding is correct. We'll trust God to convince others.
When your relationship with Christ deepens, you will likely be asked to do some really hard things. You'll be asked to love people who are hard to love. You'll be asked to go places that are uncomfortable. You'll be asked to give up time, talent, and treasure at cost to yourself and others. Maturity presses on and holds true to what you have already attained in Christ. Maturity doesn't shrink back, but presses on. Hold true to course.
What challenges you in this post? What encourages you? Leave a comment and let me know. Can't wait to hear from you!
We're Riverside! Monday - Friday we're meeting here for a bit of scripture and real encouragement. I'm excited about this growing community of women who are joining hands and hearts and pressing deeper. Subscribe to make sure you don't miss a post. There's a little box up-and-to-the-right.