Hebrews 6:1-3 | What am I going to do about it?

Our lives are built around progression. We want to get stronger. We want to get healthier. We want a better house. We want better cars. We want to move forward in our jobs. Whatever we set our minds to, we measure for the sake of progression. Most of these things are fairly easy to measure. Did you make more money this year than last? Easy metric. Did you finally purchase that dream house? Easy metric. Progression can be easy to measure, but it seems as though many believers, including myself, can have a hard time seeing the progression of our faith. We tend to look at it from whether we sinned less than the day before. The problem with that metric is that it doesn't exactly have to do with the focus of our faith. We very quickly become sin focused. Instead of looking at the finished work of Christ, we look upon ourselves and our own abilities to overcome sin. I am a better Christian if I sinned less than yesterday. Christ has almost nothing to do with it.

Consider if your goal was to get a new car. Your old car is having a harder time and you really need a new car. There are some clear metrics you could use that would aid you in seeing the progression of getting a new vehicle. But because you are coming from the old beater, you assign the metric of driving less miles. If you drove less today than yesterday then you are closer to getting your new vehicle. That is an odd way to measure that progression. The problem occurs when we think that maturity in the Christian faith is simply sinning less. Sin becomes the focus instead of being like Christ. Sure, you have to depart from the old man and put off that former conduct, but you also have to put on the new. The departing and repenting from sin goes back to the starting line. If any sin comes up, you deal with it, but the mature mindset presses on.

Press on to perfection then! Press on to walking like Jesus. Leave the old behind and grow in the new! See that Scripture teaches that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. Let your mind be washed in the water of the word. Grow beyond the elementary principles of Christ and press forward to maturity in the faith.

What application are you implementing today?