Growing in God's grace

When Peter exercised enough faith to get out of the boat and walk on water, he only walked a little way before he sank. When he tried to defend Jesus, he cut off a man's ear. When he promised to be loyal, he fell flat on his face. When he tried to advise Jesus, he was the devil's advocate (see Matthew 16:22-23). Eventually he became a leader in the church - but he still messed up a bit. But his behaviour didn't surprise or discourage Jesus.

Jesus will never stop helping a follower of his who is sincerely seeking to grow. He'll always lead us forward in growth. But growth requires risk, and risk sometimes means failure. Jesus knows that, but he never gives up on a student just because they fail. For example, if we haven't confronted people when we should, once we start, we may falter. If we rarely encourage people, our first attempts may be clumsy. If we've never shared our faith, the first time we do we may stumble all over ourselves.

Failure isn't falling down; it's refusing to try. One man told his pastor, 'If I were God, I wouldn't put up with someone like me.' The pastor replied, 'Then be glad you're not God, and I'll be twice as glad - for we would both be sunk.'



So what now? As long as you hunger for God, he'll work with you and in you. Growing in grace means growing spiritually through the stages of childhood, then adolescence and into maturity. So, don't give up on yourself - God won't!





— SCRIPTURE —

'Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord.' 2 Peter 3:18 NIV
— SOULFOOD —

Est 1-4, Luke 19:45-48, Ps 69:19-36 , Pro 8:30-31