Not necessarily your faith itself, but the way you understand God’s character, love, discipline, mercy, presence, etc.
Has your perspective changed as you’ve grown older or gone through different life experiences?
For me, as I’ve grown older, I’ve experienced very different perspectives in my walk with Christ. I was sharing recently with my daughter that genuine life in Christ always causes the kind contention we read about in Galatians 5. If there’s no demanding contention, there’s no life! And where there is real life in Christ there must eventually be spiritual growth. This growth deepens our relationship with Him. I’ve tried to expand on this below, if it is of interest.
Those who are born again in Christ are called to “grow in every way” (Ephesians 4:15). They should be clearly growing up into their salvation (1 Peter 2:2) and be maturing “in grace and knowledge” (2 Peter 3:18). They should be those who quite quickly “leave the elementary teaching about Christ and go on to maturity” (Hebrews 6:1).
God “has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1:3). Because God provides us with what we need for growth, Peter goes on to describe the ways in which we should develop and mature in Christ. It is our responsibility to be disciplined to look to Him daily so we can progress to maturity. Read carefully verses 3-15.
In my opinion, many overlook the part they must play in the spiritual growth that Peter describes so clearly. Many churches are set up in a way that focuses too directly on pulpit ministry. Churches that are largely liturgical in nature will easily bypass the need for personal discipline in Christ. Contexts like these can leave too many “unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” I speak from family experience here.
Gifted teachers in our local churches are prayerfully grounded in the pattern of sound teaching that transforms and empowers those who are Christ’s. Whatever is contrary to this sound teaching will become obvious to those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, who desire to keep His commandments. As we grow in Christ we will know Him more fully and increasingly see His sanctifying characteristics in our thinking and conduct.
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Absolutely. Great question. Growing up, my grandmother made my best friend Billy, my cousin (when she moved in), and me go to church. It was Hope Chapel, a small neighborhood church without a pastor. The leader was an elder from the mother church, which I believe was Presbyterian.
I went to Sunday school. I learned how to recite the Ten Commandments in order. I also learned the Christmas story and always participated in the plays. I usually played Joseph or a shepherd. I knew the basics. So I thought. But I had no clue.
As I got older and started to really seek out the truth, that is when I started reading this (Holding up the Bible). Oh, I checked out the Jewish synagogue, and I was asked to leave because I was unclean. I checked out Catholicism, realized quickly that they go against God’s Word in many ways. I looked into Buddhism and Hinduism, Mystical uh, New Age garbage. I even learned that being a Jedi was an actual religion. Not kidding.
I did this until I literally heard, “Are you done? You want to know the truth, stop learning from the creature, start learning from the Creator. Who do you think knows better?” So I did. Eventually God lead my to Ascent Church in Stuart, Florida. I watched the church die a slow death due to a mistake by the Pastor. It got down to like 20 people when my family and I left.
Then I got texts and phone calls, a new Pastor was there. Pastor Jason Ginn. I went back and became the Facility Director. I quit my 11-year career with the City of PSL to go to work with Pastor Jason full-time. First year? $8.50 in the bank, 15 people. After the first year, like 100. Second, 150 175. Third? 250. When I left to move to NY, we had like 400. Now I understand they have to rent out a High School Gymnasium for Sunday service. I saw how God works firsthand. As I read His Word, I grew in both wisdom and Faith. One of the things I learned was that I truly knew nothing.
“Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits.”
We need to learn and grow.
“So that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” Ephesians 4:14
This is the only way we can:
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15
Never stop learning, never think you know all.
Peter
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For sure. I’ve believed in God for as long as I can remember, but I’ve come to know him more fully as the years go on. I think he reveals to us what we can understand and accept little by little. I believe it’s his mercy that is patient to reveal to me what I am ready to hear and understand and take to heart at the right time, and often rather slowly. I also strongly believe that he has guided me to different churches at different times in my life because their teaching, preaching, community, etc. was what my heart and soul needed during a specific season to understand more about him.
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Yes, of course. I think that’s true of everyone. As a kid what I knew of God was the rules. Do this, but don’t do that. Following Christ meant missing out on a lot of things and I wanted to be like my friends. That’s the main reason I turned away for a time.
As I grew up in my relationship with Him I also grew in my understanding and saw it completely different. It isn’t about rules. It’s about relationship and how we behave is a reflection of what we believe.
So yes, we grow and mature according to what we understand and this growing up is His work in us. I can’t take much credit for it.
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That’s a great question! My perspective has changed SOOOO much since my first Sunday School class until now!
when I grew up finally and became serious about the Lord, I caught on real quick that, this is not the easy comfortable Christianity of yesteryears Sunday School. A slow start at first and I had some bad doctrine that I had to let go, but the Lord did show me that I was not reading His Word, literal enough. When I did, it changed. Almost a different religion compared to how some christians’s perspective.
Fallen demi-gods mating with earth women (Genesis 6:1-4) and making a hybrid species? It sounds almost like, the best Sci-Fi movie that’s ever been written. Even though it isn’t Science, it is Spiritual, and, it’s not Fiction, it’s Real. Very real.
Yeah, big changes in my thinking.
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Definley. I used to think God was more “somewhere” than “everywhere” but He is everywhere
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