I’ve been thinking about some of the lyrics to John Lennon’s “Happy Christmas”. He sang, “So this is Christmas, and what have you done? Another year over, a new one just begun.” With just a few days left in the year, many people start thinking about what they did this year, goals they accomplished, and what they’d like to do next year. Some make resolutions that, if we’re really honest with ourselves, we know we’ll never keep. This time of year is a time of reflection and renewal.
In thinking about John Lennon’s question, “what have you done?”, I want to add a caveat to that. I want to ask you a question that I believe is the most important question of reflection, and far more important than reflecting on your work goals or goals for your family or any other thing you may have done this year.
Here’s the question: What have you done…to grow your relationship with Jesus?
There’s no goal as important as growing in your faith, no desire more important than drawing closer to the Lord. Other goals aren’t bad, I set my own goals for things I want to do in my life the next year, but I know that without first and foremost growing in my relationship with Jesus, all those other things will be fruitless, empty, and pointless, because I know that without the Lord, I can do nothing!
The Christian life is all about growth. 2 Peter 3:18 says, “but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” The disciples, in Luke 17:5 said to Jesus, “Increase our faith!” It was the cry of their hearts, even though they didn’t fully understand what all would be a part of their faith increasing, they knew that they needed their faith to grow.
Hebrews 6 tells us to leave the elementary teaching about Christ and press on to maturity. Paul tells us to stop drinking spiritual milk which is for babies and eat real spiritual meat meant for those who are mature! Paul also says in Colossians that it’s his desire that everyone may be presented as mature in Christ.
The Bible makes it very clear that when we come to Jesus, when we accept His gift of salvation and we have made the decision to live for Him, that we should grow and mature in our relationship with the Lord. So, not only should we grow in our faith, but we should also mature in our faith, and the two are not the same. True Christ followers cannot stay the same!
We must grow in our faith, like the disciples cried out for. We must mature in our faith, which is what the apostle Paul wished for each believer. What does that entail, growing and maturing?
Let’s look at that this morning.
What does it mean to grow in your faith, to increase your faith?
Let’s look at Colossians 1:9-10, “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,” (NIV).
Growing in faith requires a few things that these verses in Colossians point out: growing in faith requires knowledge, wisdom, and understanding.
All these things are things given by God to those who seek after them, to those who seek after Him. To those who seek His face, He gives knowledge, wisdom and understanding. And how do we seek His face? It’s very simple…we spend time with Him.
We read His Word, because in that Word He reveals Himself, reveals His character, reveals His will, reveals His plan, and it is honestly, the best way that we have to get to know Him. In His Words, He’s given us all that we need to know about Him, but so many of us don’t open it every day, and maybe only even once a week. It’s the equivalent of being married and never talking to your spouse. It’s foolish, but we do it far too frequently.
We have to read His Word.
We have to spend time with Him in prayer. We must spend time with Him in worship.
But if you want to be able to know what His voice sounds like when you pray, read His Word. If you want to know who you’re worshiping, read His Word.
Growing in your faith requires knowledge, wisdom, and understanding about who God is and what He has done. Knowledge, wisdom, and understanding come from seeking the Lord through His Word and spending time with Him.
So, back to the question with a caveat: “So this is Christmas, and what have you done…to grow in your relationship with the Lord?” What have you done to grow your faith this year? How have you sought after the Lord?
We want and need to grow in our relationship with the Lord, but we must also mature in our relationship with the Lord. As I said before the two are similar, but not the same.
Let me explain this very simply. Have you ever known someone who, even though they grew up, physically got bigger, got older, they were “grown up”…but they never matured? They grew up, but never actually grew up?
We don’t want to be like that spiritually, do we? I certainly hope not.
So, we’ve got to grow in our faith by increasing in knowledge, wisdom and understanding of who the Lord is and what He has done by spending time with Him in His Word. But, we must also mature in our faith. Ephesians 4:13 says that knowledge about God helps us become mature, and attain the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
In other words, because we want to make sure we fully understand this, when we grow our faith and our knowledge of God is increased through His Word, what should happen next is that we become mature in our faith.
Growth in our faith is the head knowledge we need about who God is and what He has done, but maturity of faith is where life-change actually happens. It’s the difference between knowing that we should be loving people the way God loves them and actually loving them. It’s the difference between knowing that God wants me to live a holy life, and actually living a holy life.
For James, it’s the difference between not only listening to God’s Word, but actually doing God’s Word, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.” (James 1:22-24, NIV).
The Christian walk is radical. It’s meant to be. Following Jesus comes at a cost, and we’re told to count it. Those who come to Christ are called to a higher way of living, and a relationship with Jesus must be carefully and intentionally grown so it leads us to maturity of faith.
Maturity of faith is important. A mature faith means a deeper relationship with Jesus that cannot be shaken. Think about the parable of the seeds in Luke 8:4-15. The seeds in this parable are the Words of God. When the seeds, the Word of God, falls on God soil, it grows deep roots and they are not choked out by life’s worries, or by riches and pleasures, and this kind of faith becomes mature.
Ephesians 4:14 says that a mature faith will make us “no longer infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” (NIV). When we have a mature faith, founded on the Word of God and a deep, and growing relationship with Jesus, we can’t be shaken by life’s difficulties or by doubts or other belief systems or world teachings. Mature faith keeps us grounded and anchored in the Lord.
Luke 8:15 tells us, “But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the Word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.”
The good seed heard the Word of God, retained it, and matured in faith, and then went on to produce good fruit. Fruit like…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The Bible makes it clear that it’s not enough to just know that we should be loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled. Our spiritual growth must lead to spiritual maturity which produces good fruit.
Mature faith is a firm-foundation for us, a rock, an anchor in the storm, and it produces the Christ-like character that God desires for us to have.
Again, we go back to the question, “So this is Christmas, and what have you done…to mature in your faith this year?”
The great thing about a relationship with the Lord is that whether it’s been 20 minutes since you last spent time with Him, or 20 days, or 20 months, He will always welcome you back. He desires to just be with you, and He desires for us to just want to be with Him. He’s just waiting for each of us to say to ourselves, “I want more of Him, and less of me, and I’m going to seek Him with everything that I am.”
So this year, whatever other goals you make for yourself, whatever your resolutions are, don’t forget that your relationship with Jesus is most important. Make your spiritual growth and maturity the top priority this year, and I promise, you’ll have the best year yet.
1. So…what have you done to grow and mature your faith this year? Can you point to specific examples, Bible studies, etc. that helped you do this?
2. What is your plan for intentionally growing and maturing in your faith this next year? Attend a Sunday school class? Teach a Bible study? Make prayer time a priority? Increase your quiet times with God? Participate in a Bible reading plan for the whole year?