BY j. RICHARD CHASE
tent. It did not come naturally—we can all say amen to that. It came through the discipline of learning. Paul's use of the word "to learn" is a solid, aca demic term that comes from the Creek root that gives us our word, "mathe matics." There is a deliberate, active process involved here. In essence, it is saying we do not become the person Cod wants us to be by daydreaming, by accident, or by wishful thinking. Growth is apparent when we draw on the manifold resources of God in exercising our will and applying our abili ties to the task. What are the ramifications of this line of thinking? It can mean we are unwise to believe that we must study and gain experience to become an engineer, dentist, homemaker, or counselor; and expect to grow in the Christian life with mere ceremonial prayers and weekly visits to a church. We must realize the stunted Christian is largely responsible for his own shortcomings. With the Bible and the full ministries of God, the Christian has nobody to blame but himself for a mediocre life. Before we find fault in a pastor or teacher for not feeding us as fine a diet as we would like, we must squarely face our own lack of interest and inadequate application. It is natural to shift the blame for our problems— it is rarely justified! The person who always blames others, or his circumstances, for failures seldom achieves greatness in a vocation or in a walk with the Lord. Church, books, or classes can be a great benefit, but to produce results in our lives we must be active participants! Page 5
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