Continue to Grow in Christ

Today's scripture verse is from 2 Peter 3:18. "but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity, Amen." In scripture there are four areas of growth as a Christian. Each one of us fit somewhere within these categories:

1) A Baby Christian - A baby lives to be served and only drinks milk. It cannot eat meat. They are spiritual babies. They are offended easily and often jealous (see 1 Cor. 3:1-4).

2) A Little Child - Little children love praise and only seek things that appeal to themselves. Untruthful, envious, and cruel are some characteristics of the "little child stage". In 1 John 2:12, the Apostle John refers to the little children of the church.

3) Young Christian Man - Strong and virile, he is able to overcome his enemy and has a vision for the future and the courage and faith to tackle it. Paul said of these young Christian men to "put away childish things" in 1 Cor. 13:11).

4) The Father (Mature Christian) - In the church, the spiritual fathers are at peace with God. They have learned how to be content under all circumstances (Phil. 4:11). The spiritual father has come to know that the only source of true strength in this life is through Christ (Phil. 4:13). He puts away the past and looks forward to the future with God. And he knows that in God, "all things work together for good" (Ro. 8:28). Finally, in his spiritual maturity, he looks forward to "the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus" (Eph.2:7).

Can you pick yourself out of one of these characteristic stages? You're there, somewhere. Look hard. You'll find you! As for me, it has been an enjoyable "growing" experience to write from scripture everyday for the last 32 days straight. I am enjoying myself so much that I am going to try committing myself to continue throughout the year. I hope that one of these daily devotions will be just the medicine for your "hurt" in life. Then you can share it with a friend. You'll pray for me, won't you?

Dave