A group of tourists visiting a picturesque village walked by an old man sitting beside a fence. In a rather patronizing way, one tourist asked him, “Were any great men born in this village?” The old man replied, “Nope, only babies.”
How true. No one is born fully grown. We are all born as babies. The same is true in our spiritual lives.
Every person who is a born-again believer starts life as a baby in Christ. Whether the new convert is six or sixty, that person is still a new Christian and needs to grow in the Lord. A baby Christian who has been saved for forty years is a tragedy. God intends for us to grow and mature in our faith. Over time, and as we apply God’s Word to our lives, we are to grow in God’s grace to become spiritually mature.
2 Peter 3:18 - “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Charles Spurgeon once said, “There is a vast difference between grace growing and our growing in grace. God’s grace never increases; it is always infinite, so it cannot be more; it is always everlasting; it is always bottomless. It cannot be more; and, in the nature of God, it could not be less.
So we understand God’s grace is not growing. We already have all the grace we need. But we are to grow in his grace.
What are some evidences that we are growing in God’s grace? First, there will be an increased love for God and for others.
1 Thessalonians 3:12 - ““and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another”
A second evidence would be an increase of our knowledge of God. Colossians 1:10 says we are to “bear fruit in every good work and increase in the knowledge of God.
Third, we grow in grace as we see an increase of faith in God. The more we learn to trust him, the more we grow.
The question remains…how do we grow in grace? God has a lot of tools to help us grow. Since growth is his will for us, he will provide the opportunities and experience that will cause us to grow. Sometimes it is unpleasant. Sometimes it is even painful, but the end result is good because the circumstances caused us to grow in the grace of God.
We can grow as we use the Word of God. Bible knowledge alone doesn’t produce spiritual growth. There are many people who know lots of scripture, but they are dead spiritually. We grow as we use God’s Word. We grow as we obey it and apply it’s truths to our lives. It here that the Bible becomes a powerful agent for our spiritual growth.
We grow in grace through worship and fellowship with other believers. I believe Satan knows the strength we gain through gathering with other Christians and this is why he tries so hard to keep us from meeting together. He will provide obstacles, distractions, and hindrances to tempt you to miss gathering with other believers.
But when we worship together, when we fellowship together there are tremendous opportunities for spiritual growth.
Finally, we grow in grace through our trials and difficulties. Strong faith is tested faith. In adversity we learn first hand of God’s love, strength, wisdom, and peace. Had we not gone through the difficulties, we would not have experienced these blessings.
Grow in grace: All growth is by grace; it's God's gift. We must constantly ask him in prayer to make us grow. We need God's grace, not only when we first believe in Christ, but we need it again and again, to become the people God wants us to be.
Today’s Challenge: Ask yourself a serious question: Am I growing in God’s grace? Am I becoming more spiritually mature? Am I more like Jesus today than I was a year ago? Ask God for the grace to grow to be all God desires you to be.
