Growing Up

12 I am writing to you, dear children,
because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
13 I am writing to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
because you have overcome the evil one.
14 I write to you, dear children,
because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you are strong,
and the word of God lives in you,
and you have overcome the evil one. I John 2:12-14

Happy New Year! I don’t know about you, but for me, as a teacher, January doesn’t really feel like a new year. That comes in August! Every year, however, when January rolls around, I usually spend some time reflecting on life and the year that has passed.

I’m not much for New Year’s resolutions. I’m not really against them. I just know how easy they are to make and how hard they are to keep! But I like the idea of spending some time examining my own habits and thoughts and allowing God to show me some things that I need to work on.

I want to keep growing spiritually. And having some goals or specific areas to be mindful of helps me to do that. I have heard others say that if we are not intentionally growing closer to God, we are falling farther away.

I listened to a sermon podcast this weekend about growing spiritually, and I thought it was really good. The speaker, Pastor Chad Roberts, described stages of spiritual growth using 1 John 2:12-14.

Pastor Chad Roberts said that spiritually, when we first begin to know and walk with Christ as our Lord, we are babies or children. We need to be served by our church, to be taught more about the scripture because all we know is that we love and trust God. And it’s not a bad thing to be a baby spiritually, but that we shouldn’t get stuck there forever.

Instead, he said we should grow and become useful to the church, strong and able to stand firm in our faith as adolescents or young people. And eventually, we should become “fathers”, ministering to others, leading others to know the Lord, mentoring them, and leading the service to others in our churches. If you want to listen to the entire podcast, you can click here:"Stages of Spiritual Growth".

It made me chuckle a little to hear him describing the stages. As someone who works every day with children, I understood exactly what he was saying about young children being mostly self-centered and needing help with almost everything. And that behavior is perfectly acceptable from a child, but there comes a point when that type of behavior is no longer acceptable. If we all lived our lives acting like young children, think of the problems that would create! That made me stop and reflect on where I am spiritually and led me to think about what I can do to continue to grow.

I decided to trust Jesus as my personal Savior when I was very young -- just six years old. Over the years, I have made many decisions to keep trusting, keep following, keep submitting to His lordship over my life. I know there were many years where I was content to be served, but looking back, I know that I grew the most when I stepped out to serve others and when I really spent more time with God and in His word.

I have decided that daily personal Bible study is really important to my growth. So, this year, I want to read through the New Testament again. I have a resource that gives me a short daily assignment, and if I follow the plan, I will finish Revelation on December 31. I read through the entire Bible like this about a year ago, and it was a really good practice for me, but some days I felt really rushed reading through and didn’t have enough time to really meditate on it or reflect on it. (It is quite a bit of reading each day to make it through the entire Bible in one year!) I’m looking forward to doing it with just the New Testament because I think I’ll have more time to soak it up. I think anyone who is going to grow closer to God must spend more time with Him and in His word.

But I also want to find ways to get more involved with mentoring others who are newer to the faith. I’m still not sure what that is going to look like, but I am keeping my spiritual eyes open and praying that God will show me what to do!

I want to encourage you today to spend some time in prayer, asking God to show you an area or two where He wants you to focus this year. Ask Him to help you grow. And if you need help, don’t be afraid to ask for it. Sometimes a partner is helpful in staying on track with a goal like this. Maybe there is someone else in your small group that you trust to hold you accountable and remind you of your goals when you need it, to pray for you and cheer for you and encourage you along the way. They may need you as much as you need them.

Father God, Thank You that You are a forgiving God, full of mercy and grace! Thank You for allowing us time to grow and change and for guiding us in that process. Thank You for all those in our lives through the years who have helped us to grow spiritually. Help us to continue to grow closer to You this year and to help each other to grow, as well.

For Small Groups:
If you have a goal for the new year, share it with your group. How can we help each other and pray for one another?
Do you have a great resource or practice that helps keep you growing spiritually?