Growth is essential to life, the act of striving toward maturity is intrinsic to the life force withing us that God has implanted at our conception. From the very beginning we have been growing, physically at least. Our mental growth beckons us to keep striving for perfection or wholeness that will usher us into Heaven at the end of our earthly existence. If we deny the element of growth that God has called us to participate in, then we do not fully develop. That inner drive to move forward is rooted in our creation and the Scriptures point this out in many places. St Paul shares his desire for the Gospel to be rooted in the church in Corinth so that it may spread from there to others (2 Cor 10: 15-16). The act of sharing the Good News creates an inner purpose for the messenger, broadening understanding of one’s purpose as participating in the mission of Jesus Christ to deliver the joy of Salvation throughout the whole world. This concept of perpetual growth sheds light on the meaning of the Parable of the Mustard Seed (Matt. 13: 31-32) and the Parable of the Leaven (Luke 13: 20-21). Growth is part of who we were created to be. Our guideposts to life are found in the Holy Bible and in many places signs are given for us to strive forward in faith. Recall we are taught to live by faith not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). We are taught and encouraged to keep growing unto maturity, “but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (1 Cor. 13: 10-12).
We Need to Keep Striving
