Celebrate...

Celebrate...it just doesn't seem like something we should "do" as Christians in our walks with Jesus. Aren't we to be about continuing to grow, with not being satisfied with where we are, to "press on" as Paul would say in Philippians 3? To celebrate where we are in our walks with Jesus sounds...prideful, maybe even arrogent, or as if we were saying "I'm good from here on out." Aren't we supposed to be about humility...? Yes...
But before we throw away the idea of celebrating our steps...of where God has us, lets look at this from another angle. So many of us get caught up in trying harder...of working harder, of thinking two or three steps ahead of where we are. The problem with this? Although it isn't bad to have goals and aspirations for our faith, so often when we have this mindset of striving to always be 2 or 3 steps ahead of where we are, along with that desire comes the thought that I cannot be happy or satisfied until I reach that point. And if that weren't bad enough, we think that is how God works...That he won't REALLY love us until we do this, or until we do that, or until we stop doing this or start doing that. The reality? We can't be "good enough" to please God... Those 2 or 3 steps that we think will take us to where we (and God) want us to be will still never be enough.
We need to recognize that we will always continue to struggle, always fail, always be a few steps from where we need to be. However, God loves us the same no matter where we are. The better truth? He loves us even more to not allow us to stay where we are!
So why should we celebrate our steps and the steps of others around us? Well first off, we must understand that we aren't celebrating what we have done, but rather what Jesus, through the Holy Spirit (week2), is doing in and through us! So when we celebrate, we are celebrating where God, in His grace, has brought up in our faith! And that is worth celebrating! Because when we stop and recognize where God has brought us (out of darkness into light- 1st Peter 2:9), we will seek to continue to become more like Jesus in every step we make!

Use these questions during this next week to help you dive deeper into this understanding of where God has brought you and to celebrate those steps!

1. How often do you thanks God for working in your life and bringing you to this point in your relationship with Him? If not often, why do you think that is? And does it affect the way you view God?
2. Read Luke 15:1-2; 11-32. Who is Jesus speaking to? Who represents the younger brother? The older brother? And the Father in this story?
3. Who do you tend to relate to more? The younger son who dwells more on the mistakes of his past and the fear that He isn't good enough, rather than on the love of His Father? Or the older son, who can't celebrate with his brother because He doesn't fully understand his father's love? Why?
4. Why is it important to regularly stop and celebrate what God is doing and has done in your life? To stop and say, "Thank you Lord for bringing me to this point in my walk with you..."
5. How important do you think it is to celebrate what God is doing in your Christian friend's lives? Read 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3. How is Paul celebrating and encouraging these other Christians in their faith?
6. Have you ever been encouraged in your steps with Jesus by someone else? How did it feel? Did it encourage you to keep on becoming more like Jesus?