Growing Up Together

15  Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16  from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Ephesians 4:15-16 (ESV)
 
The Bible assumes that if we are alive in Christ then we are growing and that we are changing.  In our sin, we often set the bar for our growth pretty low.  We spend our time comparing ourselves to other believers.  This gives us an ego boost because we can always find someone who is less mature in Christ than we are.  When we do this, we settle for doing “just enough” but just enough is never good enough.
 
God does not want us to have a “just enough” kind of spiritual life!  God wants us to have an abundant life in him (John 10:10).  That’s why God sets the standard of our growth extremely high.  Paul makes it clear in these verses that our goal is to “grow up…into Christ.”  Christ is the head of the body and so he is the source our identity.  When we are “in Christ” we are a part of his body and as a part of his body we have a unique role to play.
 
Paul says that it is “when each part is working properly” that the body grows and “builds itself up in love.”  This is why your personal spiritual growth matters, not just for your own abundant life but for the abundant life of Christ’s church in the world today.  The Bible is clear, we need each other.
 
That is why we have issued the 2020 “Growing Up Together” Challenge to PRAY, READ, and REACH this next year.  We will be providing you with training and tools for each of these three goals but this blog will be the primary resource for your weekly engaging with God’s word outside of Sunday morning.
 
Each week throughout 2020 I will be posting a passage of Scripture with three reflective questions to help you engage that passage of Scripture.  I will be using a “52 Week Bible Memory” plan as our selection guide for each week’s passage.  Check back on this blog every Wednesday throughout 2020 for a fresh passage to reflect on and share with others.
 
I cannot wait to see the fruit that God will yield through our yearlong commitment to grow up together.
 
Soli Deo gloria!