Growing in Grace:
The Urgent Need for Spiritual Growth
When our youngest son was a baby, we worried about him because he was always below the pediatrician’s projected growth chart for children his age. The pediatrician wasn’t really concerned, but we as parents couldn’t help but worry. Growth is the natural expectation of life. When it stalls, we take notice. Thankfully, he was just small for his age and he is now taller than me (big accomplishment, ha!).
The same is true in the Christian life. Spiritual growth is not a special calling for the unusually dedicated. It is the expected pattern for every believer. A faith that remains infant-sized year after year is not healthy. Near the end of his life the apostle Peter wrote with urgency: God has already given us everything we need for life and godliness. Now we must make every effort to grow.
This Sunday we will examine 2 Peter 1:1–11 and hear Peter’s clear call. He begins with God’s generous provision—divine power, precious promises, and a share in the divine nature. Then he issues a strong summons: “Make every effort to add to your faith” a growing list of Christlike qualities—goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. These are not optional extras. They are the evidence that grace is still at work.
Peter is realistic about the alternative. The believer who neglects this growth becomes spiritually nearsighted and forgetful of the cleansing he once received. But the one who continues in these things will never fall and will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom.
One practical means of growth we will consider is the gift of Sunday school and Bible classes. Systematic study of the Word in community builds the very knowledge Peter places near the heart of Christian maturity. It is one of the ordinary ways God forms extraordinary fruit.
Come ready to examine your own growth chart. Where are the qualities of 2 Peter 1 increasing in your life? What steps will you take this week to make every effort? Bring your Bible, bring an open heart, and join us as we hear God’s call to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Leave A Comment