Are you a life-long learner? In education, we often talk about how to instill life-long learning in our students, but we don’t often hear about being life-long learners in church. Aren’t we as followers of Christ, life-long learners? What steps do Christians need to do in order to become life-long learners of Christ? We can’t just read books about how to be a better Christian, we need to put what we learn through reading the Bible, praying, and meeting with other Believers into action. In other words, just professing we are Christians and going to church on Sundays is not enough. It is only how we live our faith that we can grow up to maturity in Christ.
Speak the Truth in Love
“…We are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love (Ephesians 4:14-16).” That is, we are to speak the truth in love, while building up our fellow Believers. This is not an easy thing to do. We must help each other mature in Christ with much prayer before speaking to someone else about a point of Christian immaturity. Only with God’s prompting and His presence will the truth be accepted by the hearer and bring about the result God intended.
Be Renewed in your Mind
Speaking the truth in love is not just for us to speak to other people, but to ourselves as well. In fact, we can be our own worst enemies when we catch ourselves in a familiar sin. When this happens, we need to surround ourselves with scripture that shows how much God loves us and will fight for us. Keep praying for God’s help to break the chains of the sin, no matter how long it takes. When you are free, give God the glory. In all, be patient with yourself, and know you are loved by the God of the universe.
“…In reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth (Ephesians 22-24).”
Share your Faith
God doesn’t want us to be pointing out each other’s immaturities and growing in our own maturity in isolation. He wants us to be an integral part of community. The book of Philemon exemplifies Christian life in community. Paul wrote Philemon concerning his runaway slave, Onesimus, whom ended up in Rome, and converted to Christianity. Paul knew that Philemon was a devout Christian who opened his house for meetings. Though Paul would like to keep Onesimus with him in Rome, he knows that Onesimus, now a Believer, must be returned to his master, Philemon. Paul sends Onesimus back to Philemon with a letter urging Philemon to take Onesimus back as not just a slave, but as a brother in Christ. Paul writes, “And I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you, for Christ’s sake (Philemon 1:6).” Here Paul is asking Philemon to be the mature Christian, to forgive Onesimus for running away, and to welcome him back. Paul is saying to Philemon that by forgiving Onesimus, he is sharing his faith in Jesus Christ of the love and forgiveness of God, which will make a huge statement to the church which meets in his home.
We are to share our faith just as Paul asks Philemon to share his faith. It is by really living our faith out in imitation of Christ that we can be an effective witness of the gospel. We are not perfect, but by forgiving others, and asking for forgiveness when needed, we show how a true Christian lives in community.
To be a life-long learner of God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, we need to not just read our Bible, but take action in our faith. We need to speak the truth in love and constantly pray and interact with other Believers. We need to especially learn how to share our faith, not only in our Christian community, but with unbelievers through daily holy living. These actions and experiences help us mature in Christ and become life-long learners of Him.
