Personal Growth

“And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.” Luke 2:52

I am amazed when I stop to ponder the life that our Lord lived here on earth and how different it must have been from His experience in eternity past. According to John chapter one, Jesus Christ was the active member of the Godhead in creation. “All things were made by Him,” (John 1:3). He had all power, He was perfect, and He knew everything; yet He chose to come to this earth as a baby Who would have to learn how to walk and talk like everyone else does. He became hungry; He grew weary. The text above tells us that Jesus grew in four specific areas: wisdom, stature, favor with God, and favor with man. Jesus’ body grew each day at the rate of any normal human being. As that was happening, He was also learning. He chose to limit Himself to the mind in the human body that He possessed, so He needed to learn to read and write like any other young child. He also increased in favor with man. He learned how to interact with others and became an increasingly likable person. The more Jesus grew, the more He pleased God the Father because it was exactly what He needed to do to fulfill His mission on earth.

It is difficult to understand how the Son of God could experience personal growth, but this truth is an excellent example for all of us as Christians. If we want to please our Heavenly Father, we need to grow in the same way that He did.