Dedicated to Development - May 30

Read Colossians 1:9-12

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

Reflect

Have you ever tried to grow or develop in some area of your life? How did it go? What did it take to accomplish?

We’ve all been through this cycle: We make a resolution to exercise more, or eat better, and we even set goals to meet throughout the week. But before you know it, the weekend is approaching and you haven’t even met the first goal. But instead of using the time you have to at least meet one of the goals, you give up on the week altogether and promise you’ll do better next week.

As we’ve considered what it means to live faithfully this week, some of you may have decided to focus on growing and developing in a spiritual discipline. Maybe you’ve set a goal to spend more time persevering in prayer. Or maybe you want to read your Bible more often so that you can be more dependable in doctrine. Whatever spiritual discipline you want to focus on, don’t self-sabotage and quit just because you got off to a rocky start!

You see, in this life, we will never be perfect, even though we want to be. We still have to battle our “old selves” and our sin nature. The good news is, now, we never battle alone. We have the indwelling Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13)! Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as our “Helper” (John 15:26, John 16:7). We can’t become more like Christ without the Spirit’s help. It is the Holy Spirit that sanctifies us and makes us holy (2 Thessalonians 2:13). But while our salvation is a one time occurrence, sanctification is a lifelong process.

That’s what Paul was praying for the believers at Colosse in today’s verses. He wasn’t praying for their immediate perfection. He was praying for their growth and development as believers in Christ. Notice his language. He asked that they would be “bearing fruit.” But fruit, even the spiritual kind, takes time to grow and ripen. He prayed that they would be “increasing in the knowledge of God,” not that they would know everything there is to know all at once. He asked for them to be strengthened with God’s power so that they would have endurance and patience. We need endurance and patience because we don’t immediately “arrive” where we want to be. Being sanctified or being made holy and becoming more and more like Christ is a process!

Paul also prayed for the church in Colosse to “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord”. Many people refer to their faith as a “walk”. Gotquestions.org explains: “A ‘walk’ in this context is a metaphor for practical daily living. The Christian life is a journey, and we are to walk it—we are to make consistent forward progress in our faith.”

So, as we seek to live faithfully, I urge you to dedicate yourself to development. Ask God to help you identify areas of your life in which you need to grow. Don’t expect perfection but try to be consistent. If you take it one step at a time, one day at a time, walking faithfully with the Lord, one day, you’ll look back and you’ll be amazed at how far He’s taken you.

Respond

Lord, I desire to be faithful to You. Sanctify me by Your Holy Spirit. Please help me to make consistent forward progress and develop an increased faithfulness in me. Amen.

Reveal

In addition to developing our own faith, believers should help each other. Prayerfully consider who God might want you to disciple and mentor. Then, reach out to that person and offer to spur them on as they continue to grow and develop their faith in Christ.