Growing up whole
A teaching for children · Luke 2:52
52And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
Context
At twelve years old, Jesus went with Mary and Joseph to Jerusalem for the Passover feast. On the way back, he stayed in the temple talking with the teachers of the Law, and his parents spent three days looking for him. After that, Luke tells us that Jesus went back to Nazareth and was obedient to them. Then he sums up almost twenty years of Jesus’ life in a single sentence: he grew.
What the Bible teaches
Jesus is the Son of God, and even so he was a real child. He learned to walk, to talk, to read, to work with Joseph. He didn’t skip childhood. Luke says he grew and names four parts of that growth: wisdom (the head and heart learning), stature (the body), favor with God (friendship with God) and favor with man (the way he got along with people).
Think of a table with four legs. If one leg is short, the table wobbles. Some kids grow a lot in their bodies and in games but hardly ever talk with God. Some kids know everything for school but don’t know how to say sorry. Growing well means caring for all four legs together.
And growing takes time. Nobody sees a plant grow by staring at it for a minute. Small things repeated, like sleeping well, reading a bit of the Bible, helping someone and playing outside, make us grow without noticing. If we stumble, God doesn’t give up: he keeps caring for our growth, day after day.
In practice
Draw a table with four legs together: head, body, God and people. Each person chooses one leg to care for this week and writes a small action beside it.
To talk about
Which of the four parts do you feel you grew in most this year, and which one do you want to grow in now?
Prayer
Jesus, you were a child too, and you grew. Help me grow up whole: in my head, in my body, in friendship with God and in the way I treat people. When I’m in a hurry, give me patience, and when I mess up, help me start again. Amen.
See also: Jesus at age 12.