Growing in Grace

2 Peter 3:18, “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.”

No matter how far along we are in our walk with God, there is always room for growth. One thing that never grows old is the fruit of the spirit in our lives, fruit from heaven that abounds through the grace of God and our Lord Jesus Christ (Galatians 5:22 and 23). Love never grows old, never fails and never fades. Joy springs up and wells within us when we remember and believe on the Lord Jesus. This joy sprints forward with resounding strength, echoing through every chamber of our soul. As we continue to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus, our lives will be filled with the fruit of the spirit.

We all have an old man nature that we need to put off. No one is excused from this reality. All of us have flesh that wars and competes with the life of the spirit that has made us free. Putting off the old man is intentional. In the same way putting on our new nature, our new humanity in Jesus, is intentional. Most of us want to just put on the new on top of the old because who wants to think about or deal with the ugly parts of humanity anyway? No one does. It can get uncomfortable. Most of us have no problem taking a stand against someone else’s old man nature, but our own….not so much. Taking a stand against our own old nature is part of the Christian life, and it is as simple as affirming that the old humanity is dead, just like Adam is dead. When we honestly acknowledge where we still need to grow so that we can love God greater, we then can put that part of our life to death. The combination of putting off the old man and living like a vineyard, full and flourishing with the fruit of the spirit, is how we glorify God in all of our ways.