A Case for Growth

 

Photo by Bruce Hong on Unsplash

Repost from 2010

And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him. – Luke 2:40

Jesus grew.

He was not born strong, wise, and full of grace.

He was born who He was: the Son of God, but the Son of God, God the Son had emptied Himself and taken on Himself the form of a servant.

Therefore, it was required that He submit to the process of maturation physically, emotionally, relationally, intellectually, and spiritually.

We, when we were children, often wanted the privileges of adults. When we became adults, we longed for the care free life we enjoyed as children.

Seldom have we relished the gut-wrenching, humiliating, submissive, and painful experiences that are sometimes associated with growing up. In the quest to avoid some of these, there are among us those who have never grown up or have failed to do so in some selected areas of life.

Jesus grew. He became strong, wiser, and more gracious. He did it in stages and through steady progression. He did through challenges and changes, and choices.

He embraced the opportunities to grow and cherished the wisdom that was available through the synagogue and temple and the teaching of His parents.

Jesus grew.

Are you growing? You cannot stay where you are. You will either be spiraling up or spiraling down in the strength, wisdom, and grace.

You can become weaker by not growing stronger. You can indeed become less wise by refusing to grow wiser.

You can become colder and more indifferent by not becoming a channel for God’s grace to flow through you.

The choice, as always, is yours. What will it be – growth or decline?

Keep growing, not old, but freely and deeply!