Monday Morning Manna: Social Growth
Yesterday was Mother’s Day and my sermon was entitled, “Balanced Growth: A Mother’s Hope” from Luke 2:52, which says, “Jesus increased (or grew) in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” Preachers and teachers have most often classified those as four ways of growth: mental, physical, spiritual, and social, so those were my four sermon points for “balanced growth.” But even as I was elaborating on point four, I was asking myself, “What is social growth” and how did Jesus grow in it’? For Jesus, growing socially likely did not mean gaining in popularity, or acceptance, or even respect, nor should it mean that for us. So what does it mean to grow socially? In my search for an answer, I found numerous web sites offering plans, strategies, and even consultation assistance to help one grow socially, and most definitions included the word or idea of companionship. So I went back to the scriptural word, “Favor” – the state of being approved or held in regard, and concluded that growing socially included, growing in “favor” with others, which Jesus did both with those who believed, as well as those who followed from a distance, and which I strive to do. How about you?