They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD for the display of His splendor.
[Isa 61:3b NIV]
The Bible uses the most beautiful Eden imagery to describe growing in Christ. Oak trees are incredibly evocative because these massive organisms grow from such humble, tiny acorns. Before they can push up that first tender sapling, acorns must first send down a robust taproot deep into the soil in order to absorb the rich nutrients below. The Apostle Paul must have been aware of this fact when he reminded us that we are to be “rooted and established” in the fertile soil of God’s love for us (Ephesians 3:17). What a glorious image! However, not everyone is on the same page about our growth to be more and more like Jesus is to proceed.
Grace, Truth, and Time
John Cloud and Henry Townsend write in their book, How People Grow, thatGod’s primary nutrients for us as growers are grace, truth, and time. These three elements, processed in the relationship, must all be present to make healthy growth possible. We need to root down into the grace of God’s love before we can even begin to face the hard truth of what needs to change, and we need time to train with others in order to learn God’s healthy strategies for growing into “oaks of righteousness.”
Four Common Models for Growth
Cloud and Townsend write about four incomplete models for growth that most of us encounter. Each one has essential elements of truth, but none has all three aspects of grace, truth, and time.
- The Sin Model: God is good; you are bad; stop it. This model does not include the Holy Spirit as a grace-filled source for change and does not include the time needed to process sin’s challenges and consequences with safe, godly people.
- The Truth Model: Just learn more Scriptures and doctrine, and somehow, your behavior will mysteriously change. This model points to the need for taking in God’s word and infers the time needed for change, but the support of others and God’s grace to sustain a grower are not mentioned.
- The Experience Model: Just get the pain of your life out, and you will have the power to heal and change. We do have to find out what is below our emotional water line and confess this truth, but this model does not mention supportive others, God’s grace, and time for unlearning and re-learning.
- The Supernatural Model: God can instantly heal you and deliver you. Passively depend on the Holy Spirit to make change happen. Just get out of the way so Jesus can reproduce His life in you. God does deliver instantly, but most often, He chooses to develop us over a lifetime. This model contains God’s grace but does not make room for asking and receiving forgiveness, then digging in and training with safe others to do the gritty work that change requires.
Which model has been the primary driver of growth in your life? Are all three nutrients of grace, truth, and time a part of your journey to be more like Jesus?
God’s Growth Model
Our Abba, our Daddy-God, is a fantastic gardener, tending us carefully, knowing what fragile little shoots we are. His growth plan contains the grace, truth, and time we need in order to root down into His love and grow into “oaks of righteousness.” Does the following plan feel doable to you?
- Tell God the truth about your mess.
- Ask Jesus to come to live in your heart.
- Receive God’s forgiveness, cleansing, and acceptance.
- Accept God’s offer of a “do-over.”
- Train with His Holy Spirit as your coach by:
- Studying God’s Word and asking the Holy Spirit to help you understand what God is saying to you about your true identity in Christ and your true role in life.
- Talking to God constantly about everything.
- Asking for help to bond to healthy others yet be yourself and accept the mixture of good and bad in yourself and others during the growth process.
- Process your journey with others to receive:
- Reality checks.
- Love and acceptance.
- Support and counseling.
God wants us to grow! The people around us need all the grace and truth-wrapped-in-love we can give them. We can indeed grow into mighty oaks that pass on Jesus’ ability to provide the right response, at the right time, and for the right reason, if we receive the grace, truth, and time to grow, He is offering us. What do you say, little acorn? Are you ready to grow God’s way?
Grow Anyway 