I’ve really been challenged in the past week in reading through Rick Warren’s classic book, The Purpose Driven Life. Looking back to last Tuesday I’ve learned or been reminded of the truths that:

• Life is all about love - loving God and loving others (Day 16)
• We all need a church family if we’re going to experience God’s best in our life (Day 17)
• Life is meant to be shared with other Christians (Day 18)
• It takes commitment to develop “community” with other Christians (Day 19)
• Relationships are always worth restoring (Day 20)
• It’s every Christian’s job to protect the unity of their church (Day 21)
• We were created to become like Christ – and we will fulfill that purpose when we allow the Holy Spirit to work in us and on us (Day 22)

Today’s reading (Day 23) was especially meaningful because it helped me to understand what it takes to “grow up” as a Christian. Almost all of us love babies when they come into our physical world. We love to hold them, hear them, talk to them, watch them – and we love for them to grow up. It would be a tragedy for a child to reach 20 years of age and still think, talk, move and act like a baby.

It’s the same thing in the spiritual world. When we receive Jesus as the Savior and Lord of our lives, we are spiritual infants. The Bible says that we are to grow from infancy through childhood through adolescence to adulthood in our Christian walk. Ephesians 4:14 reads, “We are not meant to remain as children”, and Ephesians 4:15 reads, “God wants us to grow up . . . to become like Christ in everything.” Sadly, however, millions of Christians grow older but never grow up. They are stuck in perpetual spiritual infancy, and the reason is they never intended to grow.

On Day 23 of The Purpose Driven Life, Warren writes: “Spiritual growth is not automatic. It takes an intentional commitment. You must want to grow, decide to grow, make an effort to grow, and persist in growing.” In other words, if we are to grow from infancy to maturity in the Christian life, we must decide that, with God’s help, we are going to grow to become everything God wants us to be so that we can accomplish everything God wants us to do. Our spiritual growth begins with a decision to grow.

Here at Celebration Church, we have some wonderful mature believers, and we have lots of others who are progressing on their journey from infancy to maturity in the Christian life. They have moved from being an occasional worship attendee to a regular worship attendee and a Life Group member. They have progressed through our BELONG TRACK (which begins with the I Want 2 KNOW luncheon), and having completed that track they’ve begun attending our GROW & SERVE TRACK classes (beginning with our SHAPE class) on Wednesdays. Many of these individuals will become strong leaders in our church’s ministry. These individuals made a commitment to grow, they are growing, and they are becoming more and more like Jesus on a daily basis. I can guarantee you that almost all of them have more joy, peace, direction and victory than do the thousands of others in our church who are basically worship attendees. Why are they experiencing so much growth and so many blessings in their life? They are experiencing great growth and blessings because they made a decision, a commitment, to start growing.

Warren also writes in Day 23: “Nothing shapes your life more than the commitments you choose to make. Your commitments can develop you or they can destroy you, but either way, they will define you. Tell me what you are committed to, and I’ll tell you what you will be in twenty years. We become whatever we are committed to.”

Let me ask you – “are you committed to growing in Christ Jesus – becoming everything He’s called you to be so you can accomplish everything He’s called you to do?” If not, why not? If you’re not committed to growing in the Lord, you are robbing yourself of the peace, joy, power, provision and purposes of the Lord in your life, and you’re robbing others of the opportunity to be blessed by you in significant ways.

Thirdly, on Day 23, Warren writes: “It is at this point of commitment that most people miss God’s purpose for their lives. Many are afraid to commit to anything and just drift through life. Others make half-hearted commitments to competing values, which leads to frustration and mediocrity. Others make a full commitment to worldly goals, such as becoming wealthy or famous, and end up disappointed and bitter.” What he’s saying is that “every choice has eternal consequences, so we better choose wisely (remember the Knight in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade), and we choose to “grow up” to become everything the Lord has called us to be.