Happy Graduation

It's official. My mentee, Megan, graduated from high school today. I am so proud of her and look forward to her future accomplishments. She'll be starting college in the fall; and will experience a certain level of independence that is foreign to most high school graduates. Sitting through her ceremony, I remembered my high school graduation. I remember my excitement as well as my fear about the future. Funny thing is I don't fear the future anymore. I just prepare for it; and pray that God will keep me come what may. As I looked through the program, my mind mulled over the word graduate. Although it is a noun and an adjective, I thought about the verb. One definition for graduate is to change gradually (over time). We must not only do this in the natural, but in the spiritual.

I have academic degrees signifying that I've moved from one level of learning to the next; however, what is there to signify that I (or you) have moved from one level of glory to the next in God? Last Saturday, at the Sweet Tea Party, we discussed what qualities constitutes maturity. There were some good answers and then Sister Venetta said "it's in the word...the fruit of the Spirit constitute maturity [along with the other qualities mentioned]". The fruit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22).  It's no coincidence that love is mentioned first. God is love. Once you have God -and a made up mind to serve him- then the other fruit will become evident in your life.  Furthermore, 1st Corinthians 13:11-12 speaks of becoming mature in the faith as does 1 Corinthians 14:20.

Many say that life is a journey. In order to reach your destination you must move. Same thing with our spiritual lives. It's a journey, and we must keep moving from one level to the next... gradually becoming better for the glory of God. At the end of our journey aren't we all looking to be conferred with a crown of glory and honor? Pow3rful in Him, Chris