In Luke 2:52, it tells us “And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and maturity, and in favor with God and men”. There are four areas where we see Jesus growing:




1. Wisdom



Wisdom is the ability to translate knowledge into practical application. Today is an era of knowledge, we can get every kind of knowledge from the internet and this makes us people of knowledge. We can be very knowledgeable but not wise. A wise man is one who can apply this knowledge in his life, society and the world he lives in. There are many knowledgeable people but few who are wise. Are we growing wiser each day or are we becoming senile? The Bible gives us two ways (at least) to grow in wisdom: (1) fear the Lord, and (2) ask from the Lord.



2. Maturity



Maturity is about the ability to perform the age-appropriate tasks, e.g. by 12-24 months a toddler must be able to crawl skillfully and quickly. As we grow in years we should also growth in maturity, but sadly there are times when we find strange situation of a 6 years-old in the body of a 60 years-old. Some people are stuck in some stages of their development and unable to perform or behave or think age-appropriately, and when this happens we term them immature. As we grow in years. We must also grow in maturity as well. There may be incidents in life that stunt our growth, then we have to come before God humbly and ask Him to help us to grow in maturity.



3. Spiritual



Jesus grew in favor with God, meaning that he has a good relationship with God. In his interaction with God he seeks God’s pleasure and desire, and he carried out God’s desire. Spiritual growth is more than attending Bible studies, Sunday services, serving in church; spirituality is about our relationship with God. The things we do in life should be a reflection of our intimacy with God and an overflow of that relationship. Are you having favor with God? How’s your relationship with God?



4. Social



Jesus also grew socially – favor with men. He did not just concentrate on his spiritual growth, but grow in his relationship with people as well. There’s a phenomenon in church today, namely, we are so focused on spiritual growth that we have forgotten the social dimension. We are fervent in serving God but failed to build genuine relationship with people we are serving with and the other members of the Body. We have lost the art of face-to-face communication and are more eloquent through SMS-es, email, blog, facebook, MSN etc. We missed the social and relational factor that is essential as a community of believers, as the Body of Christ. The church is a social organization and not just a spiritual organization. We must grow in our relationship with people, among the community of believers and co-members of the Body of Christ.



These four areas of growth - wisdom, maturity, spiritual and social - must be our focus as we develop ourselves as a person and as a Christian. Make an assessment of yourself today, see if you are growing in these four areas and which area do you need to develop in.