Scripture:
"But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever!" (2 Peter 3:18)
I have heard it said that there are Christians and there are Christians. What would be generally understood by a statement like that is there are some Christians that are more Christian then other Christians. Kind of an indirect way of implying that not all Christians are good Christians. You could take that statement a little farther saying that there are many different definitions to what the word Christian means to people.
There are times when I am driving I consider all the differnt kinds of people that I share the freeway with. Sometimes we are all moving along 75 miles per hour then all of a sudden the traffic slows down only to find out that on the other side of the freeway someone is changing a tire. We are all different but we are all distracted by the same things in our lives. Even if I were not much of a "look-i-loo" I would still have to slow down for the look-i-loo's in front of me.
Our Christianity is sometimes like that. We are all different and even if we define what a Christian should be and try to be it, sometimes what we define as being a good Christian is different from what we hang around and it follows that the Christians we hang around influence our definition of Christianity. Now this can be good or this might not be as good as we think.
For example, if I were to assess my spiritual life as needing to be a person who prays more but I go to a church that does not have a mid-week prayer meeting, then I probably should look for a church or fellowship group where I could learn more how to pray. Or if I felt that I needed to know more about the Bible then I should probably go to a Bible class or Sunday School where I could learn more about the Bible.
All this to say that I believe we need to be continuously assessing our spiritual lives and doing all that we can, including making changes in our spiritual practices, to grow in the Lord for the benefit of the body of Christ, which is the Church, of which we who are born in Christ, are family members.
Prayer Request:
1) That we do all we can to grow in the knowledge and spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ
2) That we continue to encourage others to grow and help others grow in Christ
3) That we respond to opportunities reaching out to others who do not know Jesus as their Savior and Lord
Prayer:
Dear Lord, our lives are continuously distracted with things that keep us from growing in you. Help us to grow more in your Spirit and make changes that are beneficial to our spiritual lives, reaching out to those around us who need help and need to know you so that they can be with you in heaven.
2 comments:
Great reminder, Bruce, thanks. That constant re-evaluation of where we are in our walk with the Lord is a great way to grow in humility too. The great Spanish mystic, Teresa of Avila, always said that the further we move along the road to holiness, the more we realize how far we have to go.
To both of you, Amen! I am constantly humbled by the situations and needs arise before me to realize how poor I am spiritually and how much I need the providence from above. May the Spirit continue to make visible our true condition and bless us with teachable hearts to learn and grow so we may be better images of our Lord Jesus!
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