Day Twenty Three: How We Grow

What did you find helpful in the readings today?

An encouraging idea that came to me after I finished reading the chapter: anybody can grow up! I know people who have all sorts of backgrounds when it comes to education, career opportunities, family situations, health issues, and financial stability. Everything can be an excuse for immaturity, and everything can be a prompt to grow up. Nobody had a perfect life growing up, and yet everybody needs to do what it takes to grow up. And Jesus is the way.

We become what we are committed to.

Christlikeness is the result of making Christlike choices and depending on his Spirit to help you fulfill those choices.

To change your life, you must change the way you think. The Bible says, "Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think." The way you think determines the way you feel, and the way you feel influences the way you act. Paul said, "There must be spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes."

To be like Christ you must develop the mind of Christ. We are commanded to "think the same way that Christ Jesus thought."

This is where reading the Scriptures and stories of Jesus are so crucial: we learn what Jesus did so that we can know what Jesus wants us to do. And this is why the same Spirit that was in Jesus is available to us today: so we can think and do what Jesus did.

The Spirit of Jesus gives us power and energy to do the next right thing. The Spirit gives us direction and instruction about how to do the next right thing. The Spirit pricks our conscience and convicts our heart about what is right and wrong.

When we make it our goal to be like Christ, and we put in the effort as we rely on the Spirit, things will begin to change.