Out of Diapers

I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. 
1 John 2:13 (ESV)

How can you tell you are growing in your faith and not just getting older in it?

Spiritual maturity shows up in what you do more than what you believe, and one of the clearest proofs is your giving. A baby takes and takes. He never thanks you, and the only thing he ever hands back is a dirty diaper! All a baby wants is to be served, but never to serve.

A young man starts to grow out of that. Something wakes him up, and he starts to tithe. Then one day he realizes the tithe was never the ceiling. It was only the floor.

“I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning” (1 John 2:13, ESV). A father gives beyond the tithe into an offering, not because a rule demands it, but because he actually knows the God he is giving to.

I heard about this father who takes his daughter to the circus, and she runs to a booth for a mountain of cotton candy. He asks if she can really eat all of that. She says, “Don’t worry, Daddy, I’m a lot bigger on the inside than I am on the outside.”

That is what God wants for you—to grow bigger on the inside than you appear on the outside.

Why don’t you open last month’s bank statement? Place it before God in prayer. Ask Him if you’re still taking or if you’re contributing. Then make one change, whether that means writing your first tithe check or adding an offering on top of it.

You are bigger on the inside than you look. Growing up means letting what is inside finally show up in what your hands let go of.

Prayer: Lord, thank You for always challenging me to grow, to rise higher. Show me whether I’m still taking and need to give back. I don’t want to stay a baby in this area. Give me the courage to make one change this week. In Jesus’ name, Amen.