Another year is coming to an end and we are on the
brink of welcoming another! What kind of a year has 2017 been for you? Perhaps,
it was just another year, pretty much the same as any other year; nothing very
exciting happened, in fact, it was kind of dull and dreary. But take a moment
and think back and check what kind of a person you have been in 2017. Are there
some regrets? Have you been a good person, a good husband or wife, a
responsible father or mother, a filial son or daughter, and foremost, a good
Christian? If you were able to do it all over again, would you do it
differently?
How about your relationship with Christ? Have you
grown unto spiritual maturity? What about your relationship with other
Christians? Have you been more loving, forgiving, generous, understanding,
patient, less critical, more supportive, and caring?
As I reflect on the year, there are certainly things
that I wish I had done differently. And, as I was thinking about what to write
for the last message of the year, I thought GROWTH would be an appropriate
subject. Yes, we all need to GROW! We need to grow unto spiritual
maturity.
The apostle Peter in his final exhortation to
Christians, wrote: “But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).
1. GROW IN GRACE.
Peter is not referring to the grace of God (Ephesians
2:8). He is referring to the Christian graces he has written earlier to them.
They are faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly
kindness, and love (2 Peter 1:5-11). He exhorts them to “be diligent that ye
may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless” (2 Peter
3:14).
We see that to “grow in grace” is to grow in Christian
character. Christianity is about a certain identity: “By this shall all men
know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John
13:35). The world expects Christians to behave in a certain manner and this is
because we preach about a God who is love and we ought to love one another. The
things that Peter describes in 2 Peter 1:5-8 are about the Christian character.
Paul adds on: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against
such there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23). Are you growing in the Christian
graces?
2. GROW IN KNOWLEDGE.
Peter has been reminding the Christians and putting
them in remembrance of all things they had learned (2 Peter 1:13). God has
warned: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). The
reason why many have shipwrecked their faith is also because of the lack of
knowledge of the word of God. Hence, Peter warns about false teachers that will
arise and destroy their faith (2 Peter 2:1). Therefore, he emphasises the need
to grow in knowledge of the word of God.
As children of God, we can't be content with a half
hour sermon on a Sunday morning and hope to grow in knowledge. That surely
won’t be enough to build us up in our most holy faith. We need to meditate on
the word of God daily (Psalm 1:2). We need to do it for the sake of our faith.
We need to do it for the sake of our children’s faith. We need to grow in our
knowledge for the sake of our growing up children who have questions about
their faith. We need to keep on growing. We grow in faith as we grow in
knowledge: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”
(Romans 10:17).
As this year draws to a close, may we aspire to be a
better Christian, and grow in the Christian graces and in the faith in the New
Year. Have a blessed and joyous New Year.
Jimmy Lau
Psa
119:97 Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.
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