Growing Up Together - Pr Wendy Chiang-Cheong

𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁, 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗻 𝗮 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

Whether life is busy or has begun to slow down, one question remains: Does God really still expect me to grow?

Paul begins Philippians 1 with this promise — He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ. Paul’s confidence lay in God. God begins the work. God continues the work. God completes the work in us until Jesus Christ comes again.

So before we ask, “What must I do to grow?”, perhaps we should first ask: “What kind of God is at work in me?” How we understand God will shape the way we understand Christian growth.

Firstly, He is the God who initiated His good work in you. Your story began with God’s gracious initiative. We are recipients of His grace. It’s so wonderful to know that despite our weaknesses, our doubts, and those moments when we stumble and wander off, God still saves us. God sanctifies us and calls us to participate in His gospel work.

Secondly, He is the God who matures your love. Paul prays that our love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that we will learn to choose what is excellent, become pure and blameless, and be filled with the fruit of righteousness.

Finally, the God who started this work in us will finish the job.The Christian life is always about moving forward, not being stagnant, because God is always leading us somewhere. There are areas that God is still repairing, shaping, and transforming. God Himself will finish what He has started in us.