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“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”  2 Timothy 3:16-17

Living things grow. 

It’s true for every organic life form, but it’s also true of us spiritually. When we are born again in Christ, we are set on a trajectory of spiritual growth. The Holy Spirit resides in us to empower this transformational process by which God “grows us up” into the likeness of His Son. 

This growth fleshes out in different ways:

  1. We continually grow in the fruit of the Spirit as our character is developed. 
  2. We continually pursue purity and godliness in our lifestyle. 
  3. We share the gospel more and more freely with others. 
  4. Our priorities shift from safety and comfort to the priorities of the kingdom of God. 
  5. We loosen our hold on the world’s material things as we pursue the imperishable things of heaven.

Yet there is another way we grow up in Christ over the course of time. It’s one we don’t often think about, yet it can bring us tremendous joy: Growing up in Christ means an ever-increasing alignment between what we desire and what we know.

We can grow by reading our Bibles every day.

We know that this is the inspired Word of God. 

We know that if we want to grow spiritually, it is best to open God’s Word daily and prayerfully read it, believe it, and obey it. 

We know we should do this. 

Yet, at some point this very week – maybe tomorrow – you won’t feel like opening God’s Word. Nor will I. Perhaps we will feel like sleeping. Or we will feel like scrolling through Twitter. Maybe we will feel like watching TV. 

We know we should read our Bibles but don’t want to. We don’t feel like it. And that’s the state in which we live much of the time.

However, I believe that most of us really do want to want to read our Bibles.

We want to want to pray. 

We want to want to be holy. 

We want to want to be generous. 

We want to want to, but there is still a war inside of us, so we are torn on a daily basis between what we know and what we desire.

But, friend, if you feel convicted, consider the hope of the gospel. 

Consider the wonderful promise that God, who began His good work in you, will carry it to completion (Phillippians 1:6). Consider that it will not always be this way. For there will come a day when we will no longer want to want to. Instead, there will be a glorious unity between what we know and feel. This is the work the Holy Spirit is doing, slowly, patiently, over the course of time in us – He is bringing unity to our whole selves.

Remember, a day will come when our “faith will be sight” and at long last, we will know and feel the real truth of the Gospel.

We will have grown up in Christ.

 

 

Written by Michael Kelley.