Rather, speaking truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ.

Ephesians 4: 15

 

From conception until twenty of so years later, people grow. Some of that growth is remarkably rapid, and some of it is subtle. There are other ways beyond the physical that we also grow, for we are said to grow in our jobs, in a relationship, or in stature in our community. Peaks and plateaus are found in all of our journeys, and some people work hard at continuing to move forward throughout life and others seem to settle at a point and don’t move much from that place of comfort. However, in the area of our spiritual lives, complacency and settling in are never good as Christ sets out an expectation of growth for His followers and for His body.

 

We all come to know Christ as spiritual infants. There is simply no possibility of growth without the vital nourishment that God provides through the mystery of the relationship that we can only have with Him by and in Christ. The presence of the Holy Spirit in us and in our lives is a gift that Christ grants to people who enter into that relationship with Him. The Spirit provides us with understanding of God through revelation of the deep meaning of His Word and by speaking eternal truth into our hearts and minds. As we know God and His righteousness iHbetter, we are made more and more mature in our thinking and in our actions. The only barrier that exists to our growth is found in ourselves. As we are willing to yield our lives to Christ and to surrender our human comfort to His will, Christ will transform our fallen flesh into the new creature that His love and grace promise.

 

This act of yielding is both passive and active in its nature. Christ asks us to stop striving after the things and the outcomes that we think that we want so that He can reveal God’s true path to us. The Lord wants us to wait calmly and with peaceful hearts as we contemplate and meditate on His Word, and God promises that He will speak to us and provide that purpose and direction that we desire. Yet, Christ also calls upon us to be active in our pursuit of spiritual growth. When we are told to “speak truth in love” we are being instructed to do far more than just talking. Although verbal expression of God’s truth is a very important part of this idea, the real life imperative here is about the totality of the way that we live. Christ desires for us to live in a manner that starts deep within our hearts and that finds expression in every thought and action of our lives. Our Lord calls upon us to live in way that demonstrates and proclaims His truth and His love for the entire world each and every moment that we draw breath. This is the exercise that brings about growth in us and unity in Christ’s body.