Are You Growing in the Lord?

We humans are not static creatures. It’s impossible for us to exist in limbo. Every move and choice we make sends us in one of two directions: life or death.

I heard someone once say that Satan owns the fence – meaning that if we are living lukewarm lives, growing cold to the things of God, or agnostic about our beliefs, we are not then hanging out in safe, neutral ground. When we’re not actively seeking God or seeking to align our lives with His will, we are being pulled into enemy territory.

We live in a world that is under the curse of sin. Sin’s natural course is decay and death. Its pull is strong. Our wills are weak. And our commitment to faith and righteousness is often fickle.

This is dangerous, considering the threatening battles that are waging all around us.

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first,” Jesus said. “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you” (John 15:18-19).

Jesus said the way to life is a “narrow gate” and that the way is difficult (Matthew 7:13-14). The Bible tells us that we face not only human enemies, but are to prepare for spiritual warfare with demonic principalities (Ephesians 6:12).

Balance of Trust and Toil

“In the world you will have tribulation,” Jesus said, “but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33).

While we ultimately trust in the Lord to be our strength and salvation, we are also called to daily put on the armor He’s given to us and to stand (Ephesians 6:10-18). We’re instructed to take up our cross daily and follow Jesus (Luke 9:23). We’re told to seek His kingdom first, every day (Matthew 6:33-34). We’re called to submit to God and resist the devil, and he will flee from us (James 4:7). We’re urged to present our bodies as living sacrifices to God, not being conformed to the world but transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1-2). These are all commands to activity, not apathy.

We are never told in Scripture to just sit back in laziness and slide peacefully, unscathed, into Heaven. We’re to be busy, seeking after the heart and wisdom of God, and busy in doing His will in the world.

“Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding” (Proverbs 4:7).

With the apostle Paul, we must learn to say: “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14)

Trees and Fruit

In His Word, God often explains spiritual maturity in the metaphor of trees, or fruit. Psalm 1 is a classic wisdom psalm, showing a clear delineation between righteousness and evil. A person is blessed when they delight in God’s truth, in His way, and seek to live for Him. This person will be “like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in season, whose leaf also shall not wither” (Psalm 1:3). The ungodly person, however, is “like the chaff which the wind drives away” (Psalm 1:4). There is no middle ground. Either you’re growing or you’re dying. You’re either giving life or your life is being taken away!

This is why Jesus taught the importance of being “branches” that remain in Him, the “true vine” (John 15:1), in order to bear “fruit”.

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 1:5).

Ongoing growth is part of being a follower of Christ, because Christ lives in you! God is always looking for hearts that are receptive to His Word that, when implanted in a person’s soul, will bear fruit – evidence in the world that points people to Him (see Luke 8:14-15).

And so, Scripture calls us to be constantly filled with knowledge of God’s will, with wisdom and spiritual understanding through His Holy Spirit in us, that we can be “fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:9-10), and “rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith…abounding in it with thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:6-7).

Spiritual Stature, Milk and Bread

When Jesus walked this earth, He often spoke to the crowds in parables. The idea was that those who truly had “ears to hear” (see Matthew 13:9; Mark 4:9) would think deeply about His teachings, search out meaning, and obey (see Matthew 13:10-17). Those who did not want to know the truth would ignore it and not let His Word transform them.

This is why those God uses for His purposes in the world always show signs of growth:

“And the child Samuel grew in stature, and in favor both with the LORD and men” (1 Samuel 2:26)….”So Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground” (1 Samuel 3:19).

Jesus Himself modeled this growth: “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Luke 2:52)

And the early Church, even amid great persecution, “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42).

Followers of Christ seek the truth, and they seek to grow in that truth.

The Bereans “received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11).

The Apostle Paul told Timothy: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

And that studying and dedication will strengthen us to be teachers of the next generation. Knowledge of the grace of God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, should never be stagnant: “For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil (Hebrews 5:12-14).

Growth in Suffering and Service

God prunes branches that have proven faithful and have born fruit by staying connected to Jesus Christ (John 15:2). Pruning isn’t necessarily pleasant, but it does make a vine stronger and more fruitful. In the same way, through our suffering here on earth, we become more aware of what sin is, and its devastating effects, and our minds and hearts grow more in tune with eternal values, purposes, and hopes.

As James aptly urged: “…count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:2-4).

What does it mean to be perfect and complete, lacking nothing? Well, it all comes down to what we are put here to become and to strive for:

“till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head – Christ – from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies…causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love (Ephesians 4:13-16).

We are to grow individually, but as the Church, we also grow corporately. Growth produces strength, produces blessing, magnifies the name of the Lord, and prepares us for eternal life to come.

So, to all who read this:

“…grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen” (2 Peter 3:18).