Know and Grow

Knowledge and growth work together as we become who God created us to be. “For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding” (Col 1:9). Knowledge leads to spiritual understanding - growth. 

You can only use what you know.

For the Bible to be useful for our spiritual growth, we have to know it. We can not assume the internet will know the Bible for us. Throughout our life, we will be in situations where we don't have a written Bible or the internet in front of us. We have to have God's Word hidden in our heart (Psalm 119:11). In the midst of a trial, we can't push the pause button on what's going on, run to get a Bible and come back to our situation. We are either ready to use God's Word in every situation or we won't be able to use it in any situation.

The more you know the more you grow.

Knowing God's Word gives us opportunities to use it for our spiritual growth. Spiritual growth doesn't happen automatically, it comes through the pursuit of putting on our new life. As we grow in the spirit, we gain a new understanding of the world and see everything throughout the lense of our transformed knowledge base (See Romans 12:2 and 1 Corinthians 1:20-26).

that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. 

Ephesians 4:22-24

You have to develop yourself first.

While a primary part of the Christian life is giving up ourselves for others, we have to put the new life on ourselves before we can help others. (See Romans 2:19-24). We are called to help others grow up in their spiritual development, but we can only help someone develop to the level we ourselves are at. Teachers cannot teach their students concepts they have not mastered themselves. If someone wants to teach someone a concept they haven't mastered yet, he doesn't have to give up his desire to teach, he has to set out to master that concept himself first. Jesus says, “First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:5). He doesn’t say ignore your brother’s speck. He says remove your log first and then you can see clearly to help a brother out. God doesn’t want us only to look at our own specks to the extent that we no longer look for specks in our brother’s life. God wants us to first become healthy and then become helpful.

We must know the truth and grow in the truth so that we can also help others know and grow.