| Photo by Simon Wilkes on Unsplash
The Christian life is a life of growing spiritually. What does it mean to grow spiritually?
In Luke 2:41-52, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus, who was 12 years old, made the trip to Jerusalem for the yearly festival. As they were leaving, Jesus did not start the journey back home. So his parents went back to Jerusalem to find him. After three days, they found Jesus in the temple sitting with the teachers. Everyone was amazed at the understanding that Jesus had at 12 years of age.
Joseph and Mary find Jesus in the temple. Mary asks Jesus, “Why have you done this to us?” Jesus answers, “Did you not know that I would be at my father’s house?”
They all left and went to Nazareth. And we read in verse 52: “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.”
Here are some areas for us to grow in 2026:
- Wisdom – we need to ask God for Spiritual Wisdom in every area of our lives. Wisdom is the application of knowledge.
- Stature refers to height, but it also means growing in respect with other people. People grow to respect us because of how we live.
- Favor with God – we need to Shift Our lives so that we live under God’s favor in our daily lives. That means living with His presence in our lives!
- Favor with man – they see the presence of Jesus in our lives. They see the qualities of Jesus in our lives and know that we have been with Jesus!
In 2026, I want to grow in these four areas personally!
Lord help me to continue to grow this year!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Pastor Ronald Squibb has been the International Christian Center (ICC) Lead Senior Pastor at Staten Island, New York, since 2011. He draws many experiences from his over 40 years as a pastor and significant emotional life experiences.
His new book, Following the Journey with Jesus, which he co-authored with Daniel McNaughton, was recently published and is receiving rave reviews. The daily devotion
