Time to Grow Up
February 5, 2004
By Rev.
Todd Crofford
Sr. Pastor
Laurel Wesleyan Church
I should have bought stock in a baby food company a long time ago. If you’ve
been down the massive baby food aisle, you notice that they tout products that
cover every stage of eating development for infants.
Once your little one has gotten past bottles, it’s onto stage 1. This stage is
pretty much tasteless but creamy fare. Stage 2 gives you some meat flavors and a
thicker mixture in a larger jar. Stage three takes you to chunks of “something”
in there. Now Gerber has even developed these foods called “graduates” which are
overpriced finger foods for toddlers.
Through the whole process the idea is that your baby is maturing and able to
handle more exciting and varied fare. Spiritually, the same is expected of the
children of God.
The Bible says in John 3:3 that when we come into a personal relationship with
Jesus, it is like being an infant, or “born again.” The wonderful part about
coming to know Christ is that he doesn’t expect us to get everything right in
our lives before we experience this. He takes us just as we are.
Additional great news is that God doesn’t intend to leave us as spiritual
infants. He wants us to grow up. Just as a parent notes and celebrates the
process of growth in his child, God provides what is necessary for us to come to
maturity in the faith.
So how does God do this? You might be familiar with the typical, yet true
methods of reading the Bible, talking with God, and becoming a part of a
fellowship where we see maturity modeled and learn from one another. But God has
some other, sometimes unexpected ways of making us more like him.
Many times God uses trials in our lives to develop our maturity. If growing up
in God means becoming more like Jesus, then we can’t ignore that Jesus faced
many difficult trials. Key to growth in our troubles is learning to trust God
through them. As we face the difficulties that come our way, we can develop a
history of trusting God that will be our moorings in future difficulties.
God not only uses trials to teach us to trust, He uses temptations to teach us
to obey. The Bible says that Satan, not God, is the originator of temptations.
But our God is capable of taking that which Satan has designed for our downfall
and using it for our development. The way God does this is through always
allowing us choice. The bottom line question, when we face temptation is, “Which
do I love more, God or this temptation?” Every time I choose God over the
temptation, I mature.
Our Heavenly Father also allows trespasses against us by others to develop our
ability to forgive. Jesus was wrongly judged, ridiculed, punished and even
crucified unfairly. He certainly knows that in this life, people can be unkind
and unfair. Once again, if we follow the example of Jesus, we discover that
forgiveness is essential to growth. Even on the cross Jesus forgave the ones who
brutalized him.
This may be the most difficult of the three, but it is so essential. Until we
learn to forgive, we become prisoners of our own unforgiveness held captive by
the one who wronged us. We can stunt our growth simply because we refuse to
release a bitterness we’ve harbored. God has better plans for us than that, and
a wonderful freedom comes for us and the offender when we are willing to
forgive.
Watching our children grow up is never easy, but a good parent realizes that if
they shield their children from everything difficult, they will never become a
mature adult able to cope with life. Likewise, our loving Father cares too much
for us to shield us from the realities of this world. So for now, we can be
encouraged that everything we face is under God’s careful watch and for our
good.
The views expressed do not necessarily represent those of Site One
Networks, Inc, the congregation of
the Laurel Wesleyan Church or the Wesleyan Church International. You may respond
to the author directly by E-mailing laurelwesleyan@siteone.net
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