Growing Up

Don't fall into the trap of thinking that God will only love you once you reach a certain stage. God loves you at each stage of recovery and growth. God will never love you any more than He does at this very minute. And He will never love you any less than He does right now. A father does not expect his seven-year-old to act like a seventeen-year-old. The seven-year-old still makes messes and acts like a child, but the father is pleased with and loves his seven-year-old child.

God is pleased with whatever growth and progress you have made. Just as a parent thrills at his or her baby's first steps, your heavenly Father thrills at each and every step of your growth - no matter how small. It's the direction of your heart that pleases Him as you say, "God, I voluntarily submit to the changes You want to make in my life. I humbly ask You to remove my character defects."

- John Baker, Life's Healing Choices: Freedom from Your Hurts, Hang-Ups, and Habits

As mentioned in the past Sunday's sermon, God loves us just the way we are, but He loves us too much to leave us as we are. He desires for us to be more and more like Jesus in our walk with Him. But don't we sometimes struggle with growing up spiritually? It seems so hard to get rid of the flaws in our lives. But let's remember that we're not the ones to make ourselves better in the light of Christ. God has promised that His grace IS sufficient. Sufficient to change us, sufficient for us to grow up in Him. It all takes a little humility on our part.