Scripture's Counsel On Our Maturing In Christ

Deuteronomy 32:6:  …“your Creator, who made you and formed you.” 

 

This brief passage reminds us that God is our Creator, making us in all our particulars.  It takes all our lives to unpack and sort this out, before we fully appreciate how the puzzle-of-us fits together in all its pieces.  What a mystery!!  (Read Psalm 139 sometime!)  But these are the genetic, physical, mental and emotional features of our lives.  There’s more in the mix than even that!  

 

Romans 9:20 (New Living Translation)

 20 No, don’t say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?”   

 

Don’t we all complain, repeatedly in our lives, that God left something out of the mix and we wish - even pray sometimes - that He would add this or that trait or quality to our personhood and life?!  Yet, never doubt that God is pure wisdom and He truly sees well into the distance-of-time.  He knows how our individual gift mix/fits into His Providential Plan for all of life.  So, we need to significantly grow in our trust-quotient in Him and know we truly lack nothing for a fully fulfilled life in Him.  In other words, the physical, emotional and psychologically aspects of our lives, with all their peculiarities and distinctives, are present, in this very time and place, for God’s purposes and for God’s plan.  The spiritual dimension guides and counsels our earthly steps.  But how do we more ably get in touch with God’s deep purposes for our lives?  It has to do with you and I taking intentional steps of maturing in our faith.  Look further:  

 

Hebrews 6:1, 3

 1 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.   3 And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding. 

 

About this passage, it is written:  “certain elementary teachings are essential for all believers to understand…To go on to maturity in our understanding, we need to move beyond (but not away from) the elementary teachings to a more complete understanding of the faith” (NLT footnote, pg. 1966).  

 

For this to happen, we need to make a resolute decision to practice certain disciplines of the faith with regularity:  faithfulness to worship, daily Bible reading, growth in the practice of prayer, forming genuine Christian friendships, acts of service to others in Christ’s name, movement toward tithing our income and learning a greater obedience to the One who is truly in charge of life.  When we do, our inner eyes are opened and we see all of life so differently.  

 

I share this article with each and all of you, because we are soon launching, in strategic ways, more adult learning opportunities than ever, at Christ the Savior Lutheran Church.  And why?  So you may grow closer to Christ!!  I invite you to join me, as we each, by God’s grace, join St. Paul of old, who says, “So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step.”