Luke 2:52 – And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people.
Our five-year-old son lost his top front teeth this week. The Hubby pulled out the first one with some floss. It was a pain free experience, thank God! After getting him to rinse his mouth with salt water, we said a prayer to thank God for this milestone. He went ahead to loose the other top front tooth two days later (yes, his smile is adorable), it came out without any pain or intervention as he bit into a chapati (Ugandan flat bread), glory to God! All this is evidence that he is indeed growing in stature. His baby/milk teeth are coming out and making way for adult teeth. Just as his sister’s did also a few years before. This is growth. We encouraged him not to be shy about the gap in his teeth, but rather wear it with pride. That if anyone comments on it, no matter the comment, respond with a confident “I am growing!!!!” That is why I lost my baby teeth and now adult teeth are growing in their place!
GettyImages | AJ Watt
Sometimes growth will look awkward. It may not even be pretty in its beginning stages. Your life may look like there is a gap, like there is something missing. You may even start to entertain thoughts like why don’t I look like everyone else? But guess what, there is something big God is working on, on the inside of you. That space, lack or gap is God making room for something bigger, better, stronger, more powerful and more useful to come into place.
Sometimes growth maybe painful and messy. Thankfully that was not the case for our son but there have been people who experience pain and bleeding as their baby teeth come out. But guess what? That pain and mess is for a very short time, it will not kill you and it serves a purpose. The old, must be yanked out sometimes because we have gotten so comfortable with it, albeit it is small and weak, and God sees that we are maturing and need something strong and befitting for the large place He is elevating us to. We are holding on to the mediocre but God being the loving Father, is willing to yank it out of our tights fists so He can make room for the upgrade.
Imagine crying over a milk tooth that has come out and being sad about the way God has created you to naturally progress; making it out to be a loss yet in fact it is a gain and a point of rejoicing because it must be lost in order for you to receive your rightful inheritance.
Are you so fixated on the baby tooth that you have lost that you miss out on and are oblivious to the large, beautiful, new strong adult teeth that are coming in to more capably replace it? Teeth that perfectly and aptly fit your growing stature, teeth that are fashioned to do more and endure more than those that had to be removed in order for the better ones to come in?
Growing is a process that must continue as long as we are alive. Infants that are not growing and meeting milestones of height, weight, speech, mobility and other targets are a point of concern. And so it is with us in our walk with God. There are certain milestones that we are to be meeting to show that we are indeed growing in Christ.
Paul is not mincing words in the Epistle of Hebrews when he writes on maturing in Christ. He calls the readers to spiritual growth.
GettyImages | Juanmonino
Hebrews 5:12-14, 6:1-3
You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding.
As Paul points out, we are expected to grow from babes in Christ to mature Christians. 2 Peter 3:18 specifically highlights growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We do this by consistently and diligently studying the Word of God, being careful to do all His Word instructs us to do through the help and power of the Holy Spirit
2 Peter 1:5-8 lists some of those qualities that show growth in our walk with Jesus well.
2 Peter 1:5-8
For this very reason do your best to add goodness to your faith; to your goodness add knowledge; to your knowledge add self-control; to your self-control add endurance; to your endurance add godliness; to your godliness add Christian affection; and to your Christian affection add love. These are the qualities you need, and if you have them in abundance, they will make you active and effective in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In Philippians 3:12 Paul declares:
Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
Until we attain perfection, when Jesus Christ makes us as He is, let us then embrace the growth that is constantly taking place in our lives and even purpose to actively seek it out because growth is the evidence that we are indeed being transformed into the person God for-ordained for us to be.
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