Jesus grew

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men. – Luke 2.52

It is easy sometimes to forget that our Saviour had to grow up like every other Jewish boy. The last we hear of Him before His public ministry was that He grew ‘in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.’

I like the reality of this. Jesus grew in four areas and I think we can see the importance of teaching and training in a balanced manner.

Jesus grew in wisdom – He grew intellectually and with the skills to use His intellect.

Jesus grew in stature – He grew physically.

Jesus grew in favour with God – He grew spiritually

Jesus grew in favour with man – He grew socially

I don’t have a whole lot of theological context for this one, but more of a practical answer.

Jesus sets a natural pattern for child development. He developed in a balanced manner. He developed in all four major areas. (I am not sure how He developed in favour with God; I need to look into that part).

When we work with our children and grandchildren, or whenever we have the chance to minister with children we need to be sure that we take all four areas into consideration. We need to make sure that children have a chance to develop in all four areas. We need to teach them the knowledge and skills to grow in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.