“Stunted Growth”

I wanted to drink coffee long before my parents would allow it.  When I asked why I was not allowed, I remember my dad saying, “It will stunt your growth.”  Every parent should want their children to grow.  Most kids want to grow.  God wants His kids to grow too.  He made people in His image but our sin and self-will have tarnished His likeness.  Because of the obedience of Jesus we can be saved, sanctified and be restored to God’s intentions.  We have the Holy Spirit to help us with the fruit of the Spirit.  We have the Word of God to show us what the image of Jesus looks like.  Growing up in Him certainly requires knowledge but there are people who have a lot of Bible knowledge that do not resemble Jesus.  Getting on with God’s intentions for us requires more than a knowledge of the Bible; it requires the application of truth so that our disposition is affected.  In recent years we have referred to this change as spiritual formation.  It has also been referred to as progressive sanctification or simply, holiness.  Someone once said, “All growth requires change but not all change is growth.” In other words, we might be changing in the wrong direction!  I don’t think coffee stunts our spiritual growth, I sure hope not!  But, there are things that do stunt our growth in Christ.  The writer of Hebrews mentioned a few of them in the passage we’ll be studying on Sunday.  If your growth in Christ is slowing down or stagnant, the Word has the way forward.  “Let us be carried on to maturity.”