Spiritual Growth BasicsSample

The Knowledge of Jesus Christ

As an author, I rarely ever receive one of my books in the mail from someone I’ve never met, with a request that I sign the book. But when I speak at a conference where books are available, a lot of people come to me and ask me to sign their copy. The difference is that they have met the author, and so the book takes on a new meaning. They have connected the content with a person. Peter told us to grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. We have His book, the Word of God, to learn from, and the Holy Spirit as our Teacher. In other words, we have everything we need- to put the ingredient of knowledge to work in our lives.

I have already mentioned how easy it is to get off track in this area and seek spiritual knowledge for its own sake. But that’s like a young man who carries around a boxful of letters from his girlfriend, content to read them instead of using the insights they contain to deepen his relationship with her.

Our goal is to know Christ, not just know about Him. A lot of people can give you facts and details about the lives of their favorite sports stars or celebrities. But there’s a world of difference between that kind of knowledge and having the person invite you over for dinner because you are good friends.

You can put the Bible in an honored place in your home, take pictures of it to post on social media—particularly of underlined verses inside, and yet not know the Savior it speaks of. Knowledge is an ingredient of spiritual growth, but it is knowledge of a Person that we must seek.

To change the analogy, we could say that even though it’s good to use a cookbook, it’s even better to call Mom. Why? Because while the cookbook can give you the steps in a recipe, Mom can tell you why it didn’t work or give you a secret to make it work better the next time.

Mom can bring the cookbook to life with her wisdom, experience, and loving touch.

Information about the Christian faith is critical because our faith has specific content. But it is also critical that this information gets connected to the living reality of Jesus Christ. So, if you are serious about spiritual growth, the driving force must be the pursuit of a living relationship with Christ, which will deepen as you get to know Him better.

This study has been adapted from the book Kingdom Living: The Essentials for Spiritual Growth by Dr. Tony Evans. Click here to purchase the book and continue learning about how to know God Better, experience God deeper, and love God more.