First Steps and Milestones

I remember Hattie’s first steps. She was an early walker at only 10 months old. She smiled from ear to ear hollering with a beautiful toddling laugh. Her dark eyes captured this momma’s heart. And we celebrated. We cheered with claps, and words of encouragement, and laughter. And our encouragement lead her on to walk more and eventually run, full steam ahead. Now, she needs no encouragement to walk. She has mastered it. She does need encouragement in other areas. As she grows and changes, her areas of encouragement change, because she is growing and changing.

Each of us is at a milestone in our faith. As we face new challenges in life, we can grow or we can give up. As a body of Christ, we must be the parent with cheers of encouragement when people in our body of Christ grow in their faith. We love and celebrate with them, but we don’t leave there. We find news ways to help them as they continue growing in Christ Jesus. And we help our brothers and sisters in Christ to not stay where they are in their faith, but move forward, growing and changing to become more like Christ.

Ask yourself today….who needs my encouragement? Who can I be cheering on in their faith? What steps do I need to take next personally and who is cheering me on?

Ephesians 4:13-16
13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.