SoLo Lives! Ministry

Grow Up
Ptr. Peter Tanchi / Sunday, May 18, 2008

After salvation, what’s next? Spiritual birth is not the end-all of Christianity. One has to go through its progressive stages. No one can ever claim that he has arrived.

Life, in general, is a continuing education. So is Christianity. The moment we stop learning, we stop growing. The moment we stop growing, we will not just stagnate, but we will fall and return to our former state, perhaps far worse than when we first began. It is, therefore, God’s desire for us to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:18).

Do not be afraid of growing slowly, instead be afraid of not growing at all. Most of us have ceased to mature in the faith because of the wrong belief that Christianity is all about head knowledge. Let us be reminded that head knowledge does not take the place of growth because growth has something to do with our character and love for Jesus.

We look at the life of Peter as an example of how we should grow in the Lord. In 2 Peter 1:1, Peter identified himself as a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ. He no longer emphasized his apostleship, instead he acknowledged himself as a slave of Jesus. He came to a point in life where he voluntarily submitted himself to become the slave of Jesus. We must come to a point in life where we realize ultimately that Jesus is our Master. And as slaves, we have one primary purpose: to please our Master.

As we grow in faith, we must embrace the fact that it is not by our own doing but it is by God’s grace. As we learn more about Jesus and what He has done for us, our experience grace will grow. God has done His part. Unworthy as we are, His undeserved favor has flowed out to us. Hence, GRACE, aptly put, is God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. Because of grace, we have the certainty of our salvation. No longer are we under the yoke of the law, but under grace. Failing to understand grace makes one legalistic, never free from struggles.

We, like the apostle Peter, have received the same apostolic faith from God that grants us everything pertaining to life and godliness. He has given us His DNA, the divine nature that gives us the desire and power to do His will, to live out Christianity and grow into maturity (2 Peter 1:1-4). There is no shortcut to Christian growth. God has provided everything but we have got to do our part. We are to be trained in the spiritual disciplines of Scripture reading (God’s Word), Supplication (prayer), Small group (fellowship and accountability), and Solitude (quiet time with God).

“ Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, in your moral excellence, knowledge; and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love” (2 Peter 1:5-7). As the preceding verse prescribes, we need to grow in the following areas:

Faith. Our faith in action is shown through acts of obedience to God.

Moral Excellence. This is synonymous to integrity. It is meaning what you say and doing what you say. Meeting deadlines at work or at school, arriving early at the office or for appointments, fulfilling commitments and promises are just some of the ways to exhibit moral excellence.

Knowledge is power. Aside from the Bible, reading Christian books is tapping into the source of knowledge.

Self-control. This requires a lot of discipline. Physical exercise, diet, anger management, TV and film watching – these are a few things where self-control needs to be exercised.

Perseverance. When discouragement says “Quit!” perseverance says “Never give up!”  Moving forward past the obstacles of life is to grow in perseverance.

Godliness. As Christians, we mature in godliness through reverence for God and duty towards Him and men. It measures spiritual growth in terms of Christ-likeness and not head knowledge.

Brotherly kindness. Genuine concern wants what is good for another person. It is not afraid to point out the other person’s fault or weakness, but does it with gentleness without subjecting the person to humiliation.

Love. People will forget what we say, but acts of love will be treasured in the memory chest.

The story of long-haired, barefoot, jeans-and-t-shirt-clad Bill is one example of love in action. He entered church to attend Sunday service where the people donned their Sunday best. Finding no vacant seat in the jam-packed place, he walked over to the middle aisle right in front of the pulpit where the pastor was preaching. There was an uncomfortable silence as everyone watched Bill squat on the floor. An elderly deacon with a cane approached him, and with a lot of effort, sat right beside Bill. At this sight, the churchgoers were moved to tears. The pastor remarked, “You will forget my message, but you will never forget what you’ve just seen.”

There are growing-up pains in the Christian life, but the gains far outweigh them. Fruitfulness ripe for service (2 Peter 1:8), confidence that keeps us from falling (2 Peter 1:10), a grand entrance into God’s Kingdom (2 Peter 1:11; Matthew 25:23) – these are but a few of the blessings.

Where are we at this stage in our Christian life?  Are we growing towards spiritual maturity as we should?  Or are we stagnating, or worse, backsliding?  May it never be the latter!