Colossians 2:6-7 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

This is something that needs to be said to every new Christian! Even when we evangelize, we often drop the ball when it comes to follow-up. Paul wrote this letter to people he hadn’t even met, so we should have no hesitation in exhorting the people we work with directly! We should know what resources are available, either for independent study or for group study, and help build the foundation they will need to live as Christ’s representatives in the world around them. For that matter, we need to confirm our own foundation, as Paul mentions in various other places, because we ourselves may be wobbly at some points. This is one of the major functions of the Church, the ecclesia. We gather because we need each other, to support and build each other up. People who try to be “lone wolf Christians” put themselves in grave danger. We each need to be “gardeners” for each other, so that individually and as a group we may put our roots down firmly and deeply into Christ, as Paul says here, so that we may grow tall and strong. Jesus’ famous parable of people building houses applies here as well. (Matthew 7:24-27) We need to encourage one another to do the things we know are pleasing to God, because in so doing, we strengthen ourselves as well. As has been said, the best way to learn something is to teach it!

I have been a teacher for most of my life, having my first formal teaching gig while still in college. That has given me excellent diction, having taught and coached pronunciation, and has also made me somewhat of a “grammar Nazi,” since I know all too well the rules of the language. Far more important than that, I have taught the Bible, and Christian living, for many, many years as well. You might think I’d have it down perfectly by now, but like Paul, I’m still growing. I have done the majority of all that teaching in fairly formal settings, but a major area of my current growth is in one-to-one settings, as a coach rather than as a lecturer. That’s how Paul was with Timothy, for example. I myself will grow best when I am encouraging another believer in their growth. God is gracious, and He knows what each of us needs. I am currently involved with someone who has been a pastor for many years, as well as with someone who hasn’t yet made a commitment to Christ. I grow in dealing with each of them! It took me many years before I really grasped how much I need other people, and I’m not to run from that now. We glibly say that “Jesus is all I need,” but we need the Body of Christ as well, to be fully secure in Him.

Father, thank You for this Word. Thank You for how You are indeed growing me in this area. May I continue to grow as I help others grow, so that together we may be all that You desire, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!