Growing in Grace

Posted on Aug 05, 2021 Topic : Inspirational/Devotional, Men's Christian Living, Women's Christian Living
Posted by : Stan Toler

Have you ever planted a garden? It’s exciting to place those seeds in the carefully tilled ground, anticipating the flowers or vegetables that will eventually sprout. Of course, planting the seeds is only the first step in gardening. The hard part comes next: weeding. The interesting thing is that if you skip this step, growth will still happen. It’s just that the wrong thing will grow. Your plants will likely be choked by the more aggressive weeds.

Likewise, a person does not remain unchanged. Each of us either grows the fruit of the Spirit, or we allow weeds to prosper in our spiritual garden. It would be a mistake to think that we can leave our spiritual lives untended without any negative results.

The world is ordered in such a way that things need to be tended. If they’re not, they decline. What happens if you leave water trapped in one place? It turns stagnant. What happens if you quit maintaining your home? The paint peels and the wood rots. What happens if you don’t pay attention to your relationships? You end up in a fight. What happens if you quit reading? Your mind loses its sharpness. What happens if you don’t exercise and eat nutritiously? You gain weight. What happens if a football team quits practicing? They won’t win their games.

You get the idea.

God didn’t intend for us to remain unchanged. He wants us to grow. The good news is that He empowers us to grow. After we receive the grace of God, we are transformed. The apostle Paul says, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). What an exciting gospel! We don’t have to continue plodding in our sin. We are free! We don’t have to live the old way anymore. We can embrace the new life Christ offers us and grow in grace.

Colossians 2:6 encourages us to tend our spiritual garden: “Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord [seeds planted], continue to live your lives in him [weeds tended].” Walk with Jesus, moving forward. Don’t allow yourself to become stagnant.

Spiritual maturity and wisdom are not an aspiration only for an elite group of people—the “great” Christian leaders among us. Each of us has been called to walk hand in hand with our Lord. He can tend us and grow us into something beautiful. Growing in grace is a mark of simple faith. It reveals that we are humbly walking with Jesus.

When we are walking with Jesus, we are grounded and unleashed, rooted and built up, firm and flexible. It’s a wonderful paradox—one that only those with simple faith can understand.