GROWING UP IN THE LORD
Choosing to trust in Christ for your salvation means choosing to accept Him as your Savior. It means to believe that what He did for salvation, He did for you. And when we receive Him as Savior, we receive Him as Lord. You entrust your soul to Him and your life to Him and try to live the way He wants you to live. No one does that perfectly, but we can all do it faithfully.
So being saved means being a disciple of Jesus. A disciple is someone who learns from and follows another. Therefore, the Christian life is not something where you remain in spiritual infancy. If we are truly following Christ, then we will be growing in our relationship with Him. Because we are to “grow up in Christ” (Eph. 4:15).
Being a mature Christian, growing up in the Lord, is not something that we accomplish by our own good deeds or self-effort. It is depending upon God every day of our lives, rather than on ourselves. Without Jesus, we can do nothing (John 15:5). And that includes growing in the Christian life. Only His power can do that in us and through us, but it only will when we allow it to.
A tree must have strong roots in order to grow and produce fruit. The nourishment and power is found in what we are rooted in. The power is found in a personal relationship with Christ Jesus. Focusing on Christ and loving Him. If we are rooted and grounded in Him, we will grow up in all things (Colossians 2:7).
How does this growth take place? Growth happens naturally when things are healthy. We need to be healthy in our walk with Jesus. We need to focus on “sound doctrine,” which literally means healthy teaching (2 Tim. 1:13; Titus 2:1).
Focus on the teachings of Christ and allow the Holy Spirit to apply them in your life. Depend on Jesus to give you the strength that you need every day to please Him. And, of course, diet is essential to growth. So we are to “desire the pure spiritual milk of God’s Word” so that we may grow up in our relationship with Christ (1 Peter 2:2-3).
By maintaining intimate dependence upon Jesus daily, we will grow as believers individually. And when you have a group of individuals growing up in Christ, then the body of Christ is built up. The fellowship and community of believers grows by individuals growing into maturity. The goal of walking with Jesus, in principle, is always to “reach the unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, coming to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13).
When we grow spiritually, it shows that we are rooted and connected to Jesus. A believer who never learns and grows does not represent a personal relationship with Christ to others. We will bear fruit if we abide in Him as the power source of our lives and that is what proves that we are His disciples (John 15:8). Start from where you are and grow in Christ by feeding on Him and His word daily, walking in faith, and keeping Jesus at the center of your thoughts. This is the life that glorifies Him.
Bryan Dewayne Dunaway
