Lifelong Development
Hopefully, you’ve picked up that our lifelong aim as Christ-followers is to live in step with what the Holy Spirit is saying and doing (Gal 5:25). As we deepen our relationship with God, keeping in step with Him includes learning more about the person He has created you to be and increasingly discovering your unique contribution throughout life. Ephesians 2:10 gives the perspective that God created each of us purposefully, declaring, “for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” Our lifelong journey is a steady process of gaining deeper insights into our growth potential and unhealthy life patterns and learning to develop our capacity to serve, influence, and grow throughout life. This doesn’t happen overnight but progressively develops as you seek to understand and grow throughout your life.
I appreciated walking a part of the Camino de Santiago with a new friend. He is “retired” after 36 years of mission work and had his 73rd birthday on the Camino with us. As we walked, we shared some of our stories, struggles, and perspectives with each other. I appreciated hearing from him about his years of service, including some incredibly hard times like burnout, job loss, rejection, and failure. It also included many stories of great relationships, pride in his family, gratitude, and a sense of purpose. He’s at that age where he could just sit back and coast, but he’s still learning and growing, having just gotten trained as a spiritual director in recent years. He still invests in people’s lives, serves in and cares about his local church, and desires to love his family even better.
He might say he’s more in love with Jesus now than ever and is as committed to God’s mission as ever. That’s lifelong development. You keep growing through all the ups and downs and face life with faith and hope, growing and realizing, like the Apostle Paul said, “I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.”
(Philippians 3:12-14 MSG)
Many do not finish the lifelong journey well because they plateau or fail to keep growing and developing to the end of life.
Looking back at your life story and how God has established your steps, you may more clearly discern the next step the Spirit prompts. Stay tuned for the next post where we’ll offer a tool to help you explore your story!
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Here’s a song Living Hope, by Phil Wickham to give you hope for the journey.