In the book "Little Puppy Learns to Share" by Cyndy Szekeres, we see that in order for children to grow they need to be nourished, encouraged, and loved.
As little puppy's friends encouraged him he eventually figured out that they didn't want to take anything away from him, but wanted to share some of their things with him.
1 Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, reason like a child, think like a child. But now that I have become a man, I've put an end to childish things.
No one comes through childhood unscathed. We have all experienced some form of tragedy in our lives. For example, the loss of a parent, child, sibling, grandparent, broken hearts, broken bones, etc.
ESV Psalm 31:12 I have been forgotten like one who is dead; I have become like a broken vessel.
Periodically I take a stroll down memory lane. I look back to see how much I have grown 1 and to make sure there is nothing in my past that will hinder me from being my best for God.
The scariest person I have ever had to confront was myself. What do I mean by that? I'm glad you asked.
As I travel down Memory Lane, I see all the happy moments as well as the not so happy. It is always the not so happy moments that can be scary. Things I haven't confronted since they happened to me, whether they were mental or physical abuses that took place. Whether it was when I was six or yesterday. However, when I confront those things with God's word I can begin to plug the holes, and cracks to the point that those bad memories can't hurt me anymore.
As we begin our journey with God we are like a baby. Some may have had some knowledge of Him and some not.
I can tell you this: when I seriously accepted Jesus as Lord in my life, I was 24 years old. I wasn't squeaky clean as a newborn. I was broken, unworthy and terribly lost. It was the darkest point of my life to date.
When I finally started going to a fellowship, I was like little puppy, I didn't want to share, I soaked up all the love and friendship that people offered until I could finally stand up and feel that I had something to contribute. With God working through each of the believers in that fellowship I saw glimpses of a tender, loving, forgiving Father and I began to be restored to a place where I felt I was worthy and I could contribute to the family of God and society.
To gain this confidence I started small, learning key verses that would give me strength in the midst of my troubles,
AMP Isaiah 26:3 You will keep in[a]perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You—in both [b]inclination and character],Because he trusts and takes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation].AMP Colossians 2:10 And in Him you have been made complete [achieving spiritual stature through Christ], and He is the head over all rule and authority [of every angelic and earthly power].
Complete according to Merriam Webster
1. having all parts or elements; lacking nothing; whole; entire; full:2. finished; ended; concluded:3. having all the required or customary characteristics, skills, or the like; consummate; perfect in kind or quality:4. thorough; entire; total; undivided, uncompromised, or unmodified:
The more I learned of God's love for me, the more confident and trusting I became of Him.
TLB Ephesians 3:17-19 17And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts, living within you as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love; 18and may you be able to feel and understand, as all God's children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high his love really is; and to experience this love for yourselves, though it is so great that you will never see the end of it or fully know or understand it. 19And so at last you will be filled up with God himself.
When we realize how deep God's love for us, the sky is the limit.
I'm not sure how a man feels when his first child is born, but I do know how I felt when our first child was born, let's just say I understood Gods love so much bigger.
Just as children grow into the next stage of life (school age) they gain a little more understanding. They are exposed to many more avenues of learning, albeit they are not always the best.
As a believer in the Word of God we also need to continue our spiritual learning. We need to immerse ourselves in the Word not the world to do this.
NLT 1 Peter 2:2 Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment,AMP 2 Timothy 2:15 Study and do your best to present yourself to God approved, a workman [tested by trial] who has no reason to be ashamed, accurately handling and skillfully teaching the word of truth.
Now that we have finally gotten the meat of the Word we are ready to grow even more by becoming more Christ-like in our walk.
TLB Ephesians 4:15-16 15Instead, we will lovingly follow the truth at all times—speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly[a]—and so become more and more in every way like Christ who is the Head of his body, the Church. 16Under his direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly, and each part in its own special way helps the other parts, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
I've heard it said that it takes a village to raise a child. The church of God is no different when you think about it. We all have aspects of our lives that have changed and grown in our own study of the word because we have gone through trials and difficulties. And when we applied the word we came through with a greater knowledge of God and his desire in our lives. It takes every member doing his or her part to make the whole body to grow the way God.
We have been given an example to follow.
AMP John 13:14-15 14So if I, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet as well. 15For I gave you [this as] an example, so that you should do [in turn] as I did to you.
Foot washing was the task of the lowest slave in the household. Since Jesus and the disciples were eating in a borrowed room, there was no slave posted at the door.
All the disciples considered this job beneath them, so everyone's feet remained filthy until Jesus, humbled himself to serve those who should have served him.
I'd like to close in Mark chapter 9.
When we get to this point in our walk I think it would be safe to say we have arrived. We are all grown up.
AMP Mark 9:33-35 33They arrived at Capernaum; and when He was in the [a]house, He asked them, "What were you discussing and arguing about on the road?" 34But they kept quiet, because on the road they had discussed and debated with one another which one [of them] was the greatest. 35Sitting down [to teach], He called the twelve [disciples] and said to them, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all [in importance] and a servant of all."
Some things to ask yourself:
Too often we are wary to get involved because we think it is not my problem or it is not my kid, I have news for you we are all family and should endeavor to help one another be our best for God.
Note: All scripture is from the King James Version unless otherwise noted. NIV indicates The New International Version, NKJV indicates the New King James Version, ASV means the American Standard Version, BBE means the Bible in Basic English, DBY means the Darby translation, NAU means the American Standard Version, 1995 Edition, AMP means the Amplified Bible, TLB means The Living Bible, NLT means the New Living Translation, and NAB means the New American Bible translation. For more information, go to the Works Cited page.