I bet we have something in common. In fact, I know we do! I was once a wobbly fragile squishy little baby. You too?! See? I knew it! We were all once little babes in need of growth and maturity. We underwent physical, emotional and social milestones at appropriate developmental times which were monitored by pediatricians carefully so that we could grow to be a fully functional and thriving human. If there was a lack, the doctor would recommend some sort of activity to encourage growth. In the letter to the Ephesians, Paul is watching over the development of these followers of Jesus and states that speaking the truth in love is one of the milestones of spiritual maturity. He recommends interdependence in order to reach maturity and thrive.
I ran track in high school and I remember an injury that was keeping me from running. The treatment prescribed was rest, ice, compress, and elevate until the area was healed and normal movement regained. To my great frustration, the injury kept repeating itself until the athletic trainer recommended that I spend some time strengthening the opposing muscle. Sure enough, when built-up comparably the muscles functioned together allowing me to compete and cross the finish line.
In this passage, Paul uses the metaphor of a human body when referring to the connectivity of followers of Christ. As was depicted in the story about my time running track, a body must heed good advice and work in collaboration in order to properly function. Even better than the words of a trainer, followers of Jesus have the Holy Spirit guiding them and depositing truth to their hearts and minds. It is this that we need from each other–truth. Truth in the safety of love helps us to grow. Maturity is attained relationally. And without a relationship, we can’t finish our race! What is our race? Our life is our race and with our time we are called to live as faithful servants staying in relationship with God and with one another as we live our everyday life all for His glory.
Take some time to pray today that you would be a humble member of the Body that is patient and considerate of the different parts. Also, reflect on your speech. Pray that you would be one who is able to receive loving truth spoken to you and that you would in turn be able to use your speech to build-up. Lastly, pray for a bond of peace for the Body of Christ and specifically for Emmanuel Faith.
If you felt the nudge today to get connected and grow, visit www.efcc.org/connect/
and check out the various ways unique to Emmanuel Faith.
Jessica Klootwyk
Group and Women’s Discipleship Director