Properly Growing

Properly Growing

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man. K. 2:52)

Jesus grew in four ways, physically, spiritually, socially, and of course, in wisdom. If He grew in wisdom and in “grace” with the Father, how much more must we? Let’s examine these four aspects of growth:

He increased in wisdom
Could it be that the Lord had to learn the Fathers’ ways just as we do? He grew from an infant into a man and increased daily in the Truth. Notice that wisdom is the first mentioned “growth” even preceding stature. He learned from an infant, and was undoubtedly born with a greater capacity to know and to understand the will of the Father. We are never to old, nor too young to learn of the grace of God, and the ways of His leading. Start your children out right, by creating in them a desire for the Holy, and point them to the One who knows from His youth, the will of the Father. This would take diligent effort in the Word, daily, seriously, and reverently; it would not hurt to supply the household with good, solid Christian music too, some of the old hymns, and none of this modern day mumble-jumble. Jesus grew mentally.

Jesus increased in stature
Stature is one thing we have not much control over, but it may be important to know that Jesus was human enough to grow physically. It is comforting to know that our Savior and I have a few things in common--we grow mentally, and physically without a lot of effort on our part. Perhaps that is the limit for most of us when we compare our lives to Jesus’, but it need not be that way completely.

He grew in favor with God
Jesus grew spiritually. He was obedient to the Father in every way, and because of this, He grew mightily in the Lord. He grew as man grows, but because he was without sin, He grew much quicker. Sin hinders our growth, and “all have sinned”, therefore we cannot attain to the heights that Jesus reached when on earth, but, by the grace of God, we can work toward that goal. The closer we get, the greater our capacity to find favor with God. One man can grow more rapidly than another, as we all know, by abiding in the Word, and way, of the Lord. To obtain the favor and the blessing of God is the greatest accomplishment man could achieve, and ought to desire. Our standing with the Lord will guide the rest of our lives in truth and favor if we will do right by Him. Our testimony will reveal what we really are.

Jesus also grew in favor with man
Not only did He grow in favor with God, but He grew socially, in favor with man. Of course there were those who opposed, but the real men followed Him, and still do. Those who are bent on evil and self seeking, will never find the hidden treasure of the favor of God, not unless they forsake their evil ways by taking Christ as their Savior. To obtain the favor of man we must do right also. Most of us think we have to become what they are to obtain their favor, but most men respect the man that has values and does right at all cost. They may not always understand why we would do it, but they often respect us for it; of course, we may not realize that at the time--they do not grovel at our feet and tell us how much they admire us, but they may never forget the example they have seen in us. How wonderful that the Lord gives us favor with men too.