Keep Growing in Your Knowing

Have you ever thought about what it really means to know?

To know could refer to intellect. We can know information.

To know could refer to recognition. We can know what is right, wrong, good, or bad.

To know can contain a layer of influence. What we know affects our behavior.

To know could refer to relationship. There are people we know, then, there are people we know.

To know can refer to a degree of intimacy. It’s the type of knowing that produces confidence and safety through personal, up-close experience.

When we stop to unpack what it really means to know, we notice the way its various meanings play off one another. It’s as if knowing can set off a chain reaction of knowing that leads to knowing and more knowing. We can know, then, we can keep on growing in that very thing with which we already know!

Knowing and the Bible

In Scripture, knowing is a theme that becomes closely intertwined with the concept of spiritual maturity. In fact, the Apostle Paul often links the two in his writings.

Elsewhere, Paul highlights the theme of knowing in terms of understanding, grasping, and experiencing. Read his prayer found in Ephesians 3:14-19:

“I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his spirit. Then, Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand , as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete in Christ with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” (NLT, emphasis mine)

How beautiful!

Here, Paul’s praying for the maturity of his fellow-Christians living in Ephesus and his request boils down to this: God, empower them to know You and understand Your love more and more so that Christ could be at home in their hearts.

But why would Paul pray for people who already “know God” to know God? It’s an interesting question that reveals significant truth for us today…

Knowing and the Christian Life

See, if we who “know God” want to mature in our relationship with God, we will need to increase in our knowledge of God. Let’s just go ahead and re-read that thought together. If we who “know God” want to mature in our relationship with God, we will need to increase in our knowledge of God.

I know that might seem like a tongue-twister but it’s worth the pondering. I dare say, the Apostle Paul might think so.

Friend, wherever you’re at in your understanding of God and His Word, let me challenge you to keep growing in your knowing of Him. Stay tuned for my next post on how we can put this all into practice.

*The above article is a brief adaptation of a message I delivered to my church’s Moms’ group. You can watch the twenty-minute challenge by clicking here.