God’s desire is for all of His children to grow up and become like Him. For this reason, he gave us a template of what we need to become: Jesus Christ. In Jesus, we see a perfect example of what we should look like when we have grown up to become like our heavenly Father. We can benchmark our growth and progress by comparing how we live with how Jesus lived while on earth. However, our growth does not come by comparison. Growth comes when we feed on God’s Word, the living bread that truly satisfies and nourishes.

Much like natural growth, spiritual growth comes from feeding regularly on healthy food. Beginning from the milk of God’s Word, we must move on to stronger food as we strengthen our spirits by meditating on God’s Holy Word continuously. Exercise also plays a role in growth and development. God gave the ministry gifts for this purpose: to equip the saints to minister to and edify one another, thus building the body of Christ. The goal is that we all grow up in unity into maturity, becoming fully like Christ.

As this happens, we become more discerning of cunning people – tricksters and liars who manipulate the truth for their personal gain. We consistently speak only what is true with a heart full of love, and become like Christ, not just in some ways, but in every way. The body of Christ grow through the contribution of every member (as the Spirit enables them) because each person is walking in love and looking to build up others, not thinking about themselves. This is God’s vision of His children. Are you keyed into it?

Scripture Reference: Ephesians 4:11-16