Measuring the Growth

Currently I am doing some training with 5 of the students at Olive Chapel who are going on a mission trip to NY this summer to reach people with the gospel of Christ Jesus.  Part of this training is for them to write out their testimony.  In preparing for this I was reading Dr. Alvin Reid's new book "Evangelism Handbook."  In this was a section on a spiritual autobiography, or basically a more detailed version of your testimony to be able to tell people in a more personal setting.  In reading about this the reality hit me, how often do we as believers go months, or years, and never sit back and see the growth that we have experienced in God.  For some it's because growth is not there, but for others I fear it is because we are too complacent in our lives and are more concerned with other things than how much we have grown in Christ.  When I think about this I imagine a little kid backing up to the door post so that his mom or dad can mark his height on the wall.  When they mark it he stands back and observes how much taller he is than the last time they measured him.  In the excitement that he is feeling over his growth, he tells everyone he has seen how much taller he is.  Why do we as believers not mark our growth like this.  So often it seems we view our walk and growth with God as over when we walk down the isle and pray a prayer with the pastor.  It is dangerous for us to not take time to evaluate and mark how God is growing us.  As I look back on how God has grown me in my faith, just in the past year, it encourages me and reminds me of His faithfulness in my life.  I encourage you to mark your growth.  Keep a journal and document what God is teaching you, and periodically look back and see how God is moving in you.  And don't keep what God is doing in your life to yourself.  He is not just growing you for you, but for the church and for His glory.  Proclaim what God is doing, to the glory of His name and for the building up of the church.