A Life of Continual Growth

In honor of the men and fathers of our congregation, I want to share with you this meditation, which invites us to live a life of perpetual growth. Repeat after me: perpetual. That means that we want to be continually engaged in a process of growth and development.

And this morning the Lord laid it on my heart to read—or rather, to read a portion of a book that I began years ago, before all this construction work began. I had started writing it, and it was left half-finished. I still have not taken it up again; it is waiting there ever so meekly for me to return and finish it. I want to share a few pages; I am going to read them. I do not normally preach by reading, but I want to share this with you, so open your spirit to these words. And I hope that the syntax of the writing will not be too complex; this is going to be simple. But open your heart to this call from God to a life of perpetual development. It means always becoming more and more, and growing more in the Lord, because that is what the Lord wants: for us to become more conformed to the character of Jesus Christ.

And that is what Paul speaks about in Philippians chapter 3, verse 12. If you read the context of Paul's words in verse 12, you will see that it is in terms of: “Becoming more like Christ, coming to know the Lord more, the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord,” Paul says, “of knowing Him and sharing in His person, the power of His Resurrection.” He says: “Sharing even in His sufferings, becoming like Him” at every level, in every expression. And that is what the life of a man of God, a woman of God, is all about: always becoming more like Him, trying to be more and more like Christ.

And we know that we never attain that full measure of the fullness, the stature of Christ Jesus. But our life must be a perpetual ascent, a perpetual movement further and further toward the ideal, which is Christ Jesus.

And Paul says in verse 12: “Not that I have already attained it”—in other words, we never become perfect, right? in the sense of having nothing more to attain or accomplish—“Not that I have already attained it, or that I am already perfect, but”—what does he do?—“I press on.” Are you “pressing on” toward the mark? That is your life; do not become stagnant. Keep moving forward. “I press on to see whether I may lay hold of”—a refined expression meaning: whether I may grasp, take possession of—“whether I may embrace that for which I also was taken hold of,” grasped, drawn, “by Christ Jesus.”

Brothers and sisters: I myself do not claim to have already attained it, but one thing I do—if you can do one thing in life, this is what you must do: “Certainly forgetting what lies behind, and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal, toward the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Say: amen.

Brothers and sisters: the essential vision of every child, every man, every woman of God must be to attain the highest level of personal and spiritual development throughout our journey on Earth. Even secular people who do not know God understand that a human being's greatest virtue is not wealth or power or physical attractiveness, but character—the total configuration of one's personality.

Henry Ford, the famous businessman and inventor, said, and I quote: “Life is a series of experiences, each of which makes us greater, even though at times it is difficult for us to realize or perceive it, for the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the failures and pains we experience in life help us in our forward march.” Our life program must consist in reflecting the perfection and character of Christ more and more as time goes by.

When we fully understand that God is glorified not so much by what we do as by what we are, we will feel motivated to make our journey on Earth a sweet-smelling burnt offering for the glory of God. Our way of life, then, must be governed by the realization that, far more important than living superficially respectable lives—going to church, giving money to the church or to the poor, outwardly obeying society's laws—we are truly supposed instead to reflect the excellent character and the ethical and moral greatness of Christ Jesus.

When we understand this fact—that what we are is more important than what we do—we will understand that outward behavior must be founded upon deep foundations of solid spirituality, love, mercy, humility, compassion for others, and recognition of our own essential frailty.

That is why the believer who has become deeply attuned to the essential spirit of Scripture is not deceived by the false idea of the Christian life as a rudimentary project to reform behavior superficially; it is more than that. The mature servant, the spiritual woman, clearly understands that the path to pleasing God involves continual death and resurrection, the total surrender of self. Nothing less than continually submitting to radical treatment at the hands of the divine surgeon, until the image of Christ is formed in us.

Paul expresses it this way, and I quote: “My little children, for whom I again suffer labor pains until Christ is formed in you,” Galatians 4:19. That expression by the apostle Paul conveys the profound yearning of the Holy Spirit, who desires to form a people who live up to Jesus' example, who reflect His Grace, His love, and His Mercy, manifesting the fruit of the Holy Spirit at all times. God will settle for nothing less than men and women who honor Him through lives of excellence and moral greatness.

That greatness, in turn, can emanate only from an inner moral richness, formed over the course of a life committed to the exalted values of the Kingdom of God and willing to be shaped by the divine sculptor. We will never be able to please God with mere acts of good behavior and religious respectability. We cannot bribe Him merely with lavish offerings and heroic acts that are, ultimately, superficial.

First Corinthians 13:3 declares: “If I distributed all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I gave my body to be delivered up,” what happens? “It profits nothing.” Above all, God seeks inner quality, the quality of the heart: the soul that longs to live in harmony with His holiness and His justice, with His Mercy and His love. The psalmist declares: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A contrite and humbled heart You will not despise, O God”—the inner condition of the heart, the inner quality of the human being, not necessarily the superficial outward sacrifices that we bring Him as though to bribe Him and pay Him a debt, right?

Before making this declaration, the psalmist says: “For You do not desire sacrifice, or I would give it; You do not desire a burnt offering.” Sometimes, brothers and sisters, the easiest thing is to bring a sacrifice to the altar—to offer God a hasty outward offering while leaving the inner being, the heart, untouched. But what God wants is to do a deep and radical work in our souls, aligning us with His absolutely whole and harmonious nature.

What is truly difficult—and, incidentally, beautiful—for a human being is to die to one's own priorities and desires, to everything that gives one great pleasure but at the same time impoverishes and weakens one and prevents one from being a blessing to one's fellow human beings. The hardest work for every human being consists in adopting a long-term plan. Listen to this; it is very important. The hardest, most difficult, and actually rarest work for every human being consists—or should consist, we might say—in adopting a long-term plan of radical improvement. That is how we must live our lives, with this commitment: for the rest of my life, I am going to keep perfecting and refining myself until a transformation has taken place within me.

Paul speaks of our being transformed through the renewing of our understanding. Incidentally, the Bible is full of allusions and references to the fact that we must always be a perpetual sacrifice laid upon God's table and altar, being consumed little by little as a burnt offering pleasing to the Lord. That is what it is all about: that perpetual improvement, development, and perfecting that comes through the work of the Holy Spirit in us.

Our comprehensive vision must consist in undertaking a life program that involves our entire being and whose goal is nothing less than the total reconstruction of our personality, until it is conformed to the perfect image of Christ Jesus. Every trait that does not glorify God—addictions of any kind, resentment, sensuality, phobias, fears, insecurity, pride, ambition, materialism, complexes of every kind—must be removed from our being one by one.

From that transformed life, sculpted blow by blow by the divine chisel over the course of an intentional and deliberate journey, will then emanate the noble acts that the world will be able to observe and celebrate, and that only then will bring delight to the heart of God, because they will have sprung from authentic and truly moral depths. All of Scripture insists upon this essential truth, which is this: the heart of God can be reached only through cultivating a generous heart, a humble attitude, a way of life like that of Jesus Christ.

That is why our life's agenda must always be the development of a balanced and generous personality that reflects, as fully as possible, the specifications and qualities of the original creature whom God placed in the Garden of Eden before the Fall; this is what true moral and spiritual success consists of.

Our supposed virtues are like filthy rags, the prophet Isaiah reminds us. “But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses like filthy rags.” Again, our own virtues are like filthy rags unless they are sustained by a spirit that has been dealt with by God and purified to the utmost.

What God actually requires is very simple, my brothers and sisters, and very simple at the same time. The prophet Micah expresses it in memorable and poetic words. Micah the poet says: “With what shall I come before Jehovah and worship the Most High God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with one-year-old calves? Will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousand streams of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my rebellion, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

In other words, the prophet rhetorically asks himself: How am I going to please God? Will God be pleased if I offer sacrifices, if I walk to Rome on my knees, if I whip my back all night until it bleeds and my skin feels as though it is going to fall off? Will God be pleased with those outward, heroic, and costly sacrifices? Look at how he answers his rhetorical question. He says: “O man”—in other words, fool—“God has declared to you what is good; and what does Jehovah require of you? Only to do justice, love mercy, and humble yourself before your God.”

No sacrifice that we can offer God, no matter how significant it may seem, can make us deserving of His acceptance. We cannot repay God for His love through outward actions; we cannot bribe Him or win God over merely by doing outward things that do not spring from the inner heart, that are not united with it. My point in all of this is that the outward aspect of our lives must be in perfect conjunction with the inward. Our outward acts must express the inner richness of our lives, and that is why the life that pleases God is born within and then expressed outwardly.

What many of us want is to display a life outwardly, to adopt a series of outward practices, duties, tasks, and behaviors, while often leaving our inner being untouched by God. We say to Him: You can stay there in the entryway, okay? I will even let You into the dining room if You want, but do not go into either the living room or the bedroom, and above all, do not enter this inner dwelling here, right?

And we cannot put up barriers against God. All the keys to our being must be in His Hands—all of them, even the key to the subconscious—and that is what pleases God. And when God sees a heart totally surrendered to Him, then God takes care of placing within us the virtues that will make us men and women who, through our actions, reflect the character of Jesus Christ; and we will be pleasing to Him and a blessing to others.

No sacrifice that we can offer God, no matter how significant it may seem, can make us worthy of divine acceptance. Only excellence of heart—that doing justice, loving mercy, and humbling ourselves before our God of which the prophet Micah speaks—only that can grant us entrance to the Throne of Grace and draw divine approval upon our lives. Paradoxically, recognizing that we will always fall short of attaining personal justification through our acts is precisely what will make us worthy of that justification we desire so much. Knowing that we fall short, that we are weak, that we are poor, that we are sinners, that we fall short of God's Grace and His justice—that makes us worthy of His justice and His love.

The foolishness of trying to reduce spiritual greatness to a project of accumulating points through good works and proper social behavior succeeds only in bringing God's contempt upon us. The pursuit of respectability through works leads only to spiritual pride and self-justification. But God, the Bible tells us, “is exalted and attends to the humble, but He regards the proud from afar.”

One of Jesus’ most profound and revealing parables shows us two characters who come to the temple to pray: a religious man who is far too self-confident and a sinner overwhelmed by the recognition of his sin, Luke 18:9–14.

The first figure is the very embodiment of good behavior, morality reduced to good works. This man is saturated with a profound sense of his own righteousness and of his irrefutable right to present himself before the Throne of God. The Bible says that: “Standing, he prayed with himself in this manner: God, I thank You that I am not like other men—robbers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector; I fast twice a week, and I give tithes of everything I earn.”

The tax collector, for his part, was overcome by the awareness of his immoral behavior and knew that he deserved divine punishment. He had abused his government position, had betrayed his compatriots by cooperating with the invading Roman government, and, the Word says, he said to himself: “The tax collector, standing afar off, would not even lift his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying: God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

And what is the moral lesson of this entire account? The Bible says that the repentant and humble sinner went down to his house justified rather than the other, because whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

In the Kingdom of God, moral qualities such as humility and repentance are far more valuable than cosmetic and superficial works. Depending on good works very often succeeds only in fostering spiritual pride and contempt for others within us.

Now, everything I have been saying up to this point pursues a single goal, and that is to make you and me aware of the profound scope of what success truly is—a successful life, a life of greatness, a life of growth.

I say here: since we will speak so much in this book about greatness and success, we need to define them clearly now. I want to define for you what an accomplished life, a truly successful life, is, because many people out there are talking about success and prosperity and blessing.

I want us to place this concept of a successful life within the proper frame of reference: the biblical framework, the context of the Word of God, and the sublime values of His Kingdom. We do not want this term to be confused or its meaning diminished by limiting it to the pedestrian and superficial level to which it has often been reduced, even by many teachers of the Christian faith.

Brother: if what we want to achieve is successful and fulfilled lives, and if we are to define that concept in light of the values of the Kingdom of God, then our primary purpose must be—listen to this, this is a successful life—a life that has succeeded in eliminating from our own lives everything that does not resemble Christ Jesus, everything that does not align with His flawless character. Everything that contradicts the beauty and excellence that Christ came to restore upon the Earth. Everything that limits or impoverishes us. Everything that stands in the way of our happiness and our physical, moral, or spiritual development must be identified as an enemy and submitted to the corrective work of the Holy Spirit.

What I mean by this is that our goal in life should be to bring our inner being, our moral and spiritual constitution and character, our way of being, and our personality to such a high level of development that when God looks at us, He is pleased and says: This man, this woman, reflects My greatness, My beauty, My excellence, My holiness. And that is why I say, then, that we cannot settle merely for what is outward; we must work always to secure what is inward, because everything else will spring from there. And we must consider our lives accomplished not because of the money we acquire, nor titles, nor anything else, but rather: To what extent has a man or woman succeeded in developing to the fullest in accordance with the character of Christ Jesus?

That is why, then, with everything in your life that contradicts that character of Christ, you must always measure yourself in light of Christ’s character; Christ is your standard. How would Christ have acted in this? What quality does Christ display in this situation, this relationship, this moment? And if you see that what you display falls far short of what He reflects, then you must continually work on it.

On the other hand, everything in our lives that exalts the Name of Jesus, anything that proclaims the beauty and excellence of the Kingdom of God, any quality that points directly or indirectly toward what Christ came to make possible through His Coming into this world, must be exalted and integrated into our own experience so that our lives, even without words, may declare the excellence of the Son of God.

Philippians 4:8 calls us to focus our thoughts on anything that reflects the attributes of the Kingdom of God. Paul says: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good report; if there is any virtue, if anything worthy of praise, think on these things.” We must always focus our lives and our goals on greatness, beautiful things, and the attributes of the Kingdom of God.

That must be the program governing our efforts toward self-improvement every day of our lives. We must continually strive to incorporate into our personality new attributes that display the virtues composing the divine character.

We want to activate the DNA, the divine genetics within us through our adoption, secured for us, as children of God. Our life project must be to turn into reality what we already are. Do you understand? God has an image of you in His mind. You are a new creation, for example. You are a child of God, for example. You have overcome principalities and powers, the Word of the Lord says. You have inherited every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. You have been fashioned according to the image of Christ. That is the program you have within you.

God continually sees you that way: as infinitely valuable, as powerful in Him, as filled with the Holy Spirit, as able to do all things through Christ who strengthens you. That is God’s vision for you. And so your goal in life must be, each day, to unite the potential God has placed within you and the magnificent way He sees you with your reality on Earth as you walk each day. This giant of a man, this giant of a woman who is there beside you, whom God sees, must align more and more each day with the man or woman you are right now, today, until the two become consonant with one another.

One by one, we must strip ourselves of our bad habits and self-destructive practices and replace them with behaviors consistent with the character of Jesus. In this way, life will become a beautiful and admirable project of continual improvement. As we have said before, if the fundamental purpose of Christ’s Coming into the world is that we may have life and have it abundantly, then everything that contradicts that essential program of Christ in our lives must be realigned and submitted to God’s benevolent, gracious intention.

Everything that is out of line and out of conformity with what God intended for us when He said, “I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly”—you must ask yourself: Does this thing within me, this trait, this character, this behavior, this way of being, express the abundant life God came to give me? And if it does not express it, write it down and name it: it is an enemy you must bring down; it is an opponent you must overcome. Put it into your improvement program; make a note there: Hmm, I’m going to cut your head off someday too. And then you live your life, right, paying attention to it. There are many enemies in your field, you know?

Life is a continual battle. The man or woman of God never takes off the armor, never lets go of the sword; they must always be ready, because there are many enemies of that perfect personality, of that image of Christ that God has declared over their life, and everything that opposes it must be cut down, because God says: I have given you all the land upon which the soles of your feet tread, but see that I command you to be strong and courageous.

We must continually beheading giants that oppose the powerful and abundant life God has declared over us. And that category of adverse and negative elements that need to be confronted may include every kind of obstacle and challenge. They may be flaws in our character or deficiencies in our personality; they may involve a circumstance in our lives that, like a tumor, prevents divine energy from flowing freely within us. It may include a difficult relationship: marriage, parenthood, a friendship, work.

Any difficult relationship may involve an emotional wound that robs us of peace, a deformation from the past, a bad memory, abuse we suffered. On the positive side, it may be a noble dream we want to fulfill: buying a house, earning a university degree, I don’t know, learning to dress better, or whatever it may be. Anything—a noble dream we want to fulfill or a relatively small goal we have set for ourselves that would add a certain distinction to our lives—all of this must become raw material for our efforts toward greatness and personal development.

Here I may prick you with the needle a little, but we are among family. For example, something very simple—I chose something very basic, very blunt and everyday: the goal of losing weight, for instance. This might seem trivial and even funny to us in a certain sense, but for many people it is a matter of life or death. The United States, for example, is currently facing a terrible obesity epidemic; children are being—and brothers and sisters, let us take care of our children, let us take care of ourselves. That is what I mean, right? Let us make sure that our children develop healthy eating and nutritional habits from the time they are young; let us set the example ourselves, isn’t that right? We cannot preach morality while wearing our underwear, as someone once said.

Obesity robs many people of the joy of life, lowers their self-esteem, and greatly limits their social options. I know people who have spent their whole lives struggling unsuccessfully against excess weight, which brings frustration into their lives. And though it may sound comical, do you know what? Christ also came to give us victory over fatness. I use the word fatness instead of the more elegant term, obesity, because sometimes we say, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” right, and we think of legions of demons. But sometimes it is simply, look, brushing your teeth every morning or taking a bath—simple things, right? The power of God is for every dimension of life.

Ultimately, that kind of struggle we have, right, is part of the great victory over the works of the devil that the Son of God appeared to destroy. God wants to provide us with the resources and willpower that enable us to have healthy, balanced bodies. By setting ourselves a clear and detailed goal, declaring it with our mouths, praying over it, exercising patience and long-term vision, and persisting through short prayers and small, incremental actions, we can defeat that giant and gain control over that aspect of our lives.

And perhaps for many years you have wanted to eliminate your debts, establish healthy saving habits, and buy your own home. For many people, this will require a long-term strategy composed of many small interventions along the way. That goal is entirely achievable in light of the promises of the Word of God. They are goals toward greatness, right?

Any project, anything at all, right? It may be positive or it may be negative. It may be heroic and sublime, or it may be very basic and commonplace. The point is that we must make an agenda for ourselves of achieving goals in life that increase our spiritual and moral stature.

And perhaps you have a spiritual or professional goal you want to achieve. Or you want to see significant changes in your married life, family life, or parenting. Or perhaps you want your marriage to go from mere coexistence characterized by emotional distance to a full and satisfying relationship characterized by transparency, love, and good communication. Do you know what? The resources of heaven are awaiting your initiative so they can align themselves in your favor and give you victory in the name of the Lord.

Perhaps all your life you have wanted to develop a hobby, play a sport, or learn a new language; it is never too late. The excuse that we are already too old or that our minds are no longer capable of processing new challenges is never valid. On the contrary, our brain, you know, retains its vitality. All neurologists and psychologists say the following: our brain retains its vitality and flexibility longer than we think.

There are people whom you see at forty years old saying: no, I’m already too old to change. God already made me this way, and this and that. That futility and that—how should I put it?—fatalism, that’s the word. Meche is used to correcting my mistakes and making sure that I also practice what I preach (laughter). That fatalism of so many people: I hear people in their forties and fifties talking as though they were already elderly and could no longer change, as though there were nothing more to be done, as though all that remained was simply to live life fatalistically because that is my destiny, that is just the way I am.

Nowadays you see many things happening in modern culture, with people justifying a great deal of immorality and many spiritual bondages that the Bible calls sin, saying: no, God made me this way, this is who I am, and therefore I cannot change. Don’t ask me to change. And so we take what is a defect—something God is willing to work on and improve, something that may even become a stepping-stone toward moral greatness, because the inner struggle often generates within us the power to become spiritual heroes—and yet what we so often say is: no, this is just the way I am, God made me this way, I already tried, I can’t do any more. And so we move from grieving over it, to accommodating it, to celebrating it, and to attacking others when they do not see us as we want to see ourselves, and even to wanting to conform others to our fatalistic identity. That is what this culture is experiencing.

Instead, we could say: no, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, and even in my struggles, even in my falls, even in my agony, I am going to become a representative of the glory of God. I am going to be a hero, a knight-errant who is always battling to attain what God has destined for my life. That seems to me a far grander life than simply settling for: oh, well, God made me this way, I tried, I’m already too old, I can’t change anymore.

Perhaps all your life you have wanted to change something: to learn a new language, learn to play the piano, go to college, learn to drive. The excuse that we are too old or that our minds are no longer able to process new challenges is never valid. On the contrary, our brains retain their vitality and flexibility much longer than we often think.

One of the secrets to avoiding senility—and, some even say, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia—is precisely to keep our minds active, trying new things, taking on new challenges, learning new skills, and challenging our minds with new levels of exercise. Always keep your mind active, my brother, even if it is just by doing crossword puzzles, whatever it may be; but always keep your mind restless, moving on to the next level. This is a muscle like any other; if you do not use it, it atrophies. Use it. God has given you a precious muscle in there. In Christ Jesus you have a privileged mind; you have the mind of Christ, says the Word of the Lord, so use it. That mind does not grow old, that mind does not atrophy, that mind does not harden; that mind is always porous, receptive, agile, because it is the mind of God. It is the mind of God, and you have it.

The older you get, the stronger and wiser you become; that is what the Word of the Lord says. It says: “The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the House of Jehovah shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age. They shall be vigorous and green, to proclaim that Jehovah, my strength, is upright, and that there is no injustice in Him,” says the Word of the Lord. Nothing is impossible. You are neither too young nor too old to reach goals in your life and attain all the greatness God has for you.

For the person in a perpetual state of growth, entering an advanced age, or even old age, can be a time of great beauty, an opportunity to make peace with our loved ones or with ourselves. It can be a time of inner healing when we finally bring under control all those negative energies that have caused us so much pain and conflict throughout life. Old age can represent an opportunity to develop new facets of our personality that have long been repressed, to try new colors in our clothing, to broaden our circle of friends. To finally undertake those projects that we wanted to pursue during our youth but, for one reason or another, could not. An ancient Jewish saying declares: “For the ignorant, old age means wintertime; for the learned, harvest time.” Amen.

Recently I read the moving story of a lovely elderly lady named Rose, which reminded me of the power a positive attitude has to banish the supposed ravages of aging and keep us vital and attractive despite the passing years. This illustration goes like this: “On the first day of class, our professor introduced himself and invited us to greet someone in the room whom we did not know.” This is the illustration I want to leave you with now: this young man is on his first day of class. The professor invites them to greet someone in the room whom they do not know.

“‘And when I stood up,’ says the writer, ‘to look around, a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around and discovered a wrinkled elderly lady looking straight at me with a smile that lit up her entire face. She said to me, “Hello, handsome. My name is Rose. May I give you a hug?” I laughed and replied enthusiastically, “Of course!” and she gave me a big squeeze.’”

“‘What are you doing studying at college at such a young and innocent age?’ I asked her. Laughing, she answered, ‘I’m here to find a rich husband, get married, have a couple of children, and then travel.’”

“‘No, really,’ I said. I was curious about what had motivated this woman to take on a challenge of this kind at such an advanced age. ‘I always dreamed,’ she said, ‘of getting a college education, and now I’m finally doing it,’ she answered.”

“After class, we walked to the student lounge and shared a chocolate shake. We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months, we left class together and talked nonstop. I felt mesmerized as I listened to this time machine sharing her great wisdom and experience with me. Over the course of the year, Rose became a sensation on the college campus and easily made friends wherever she went. She loved putting on makeup and feeling good, and she immensely enjoyed the attention all the students showered upon her.” She was enjoying every bit of it.

“At the end of the semester, we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I will never forget what she shared with us on that occasion. She was introduced and went up to the podium. As she prepared to give her speech, she dropped her note cards on the floor. Frustrated and a little embarrassed, she leaned toward the microphone and simply said, ‘I’m sorry; I’m feeling rather tense. I’m fasting from beer for Lent, and this whiskey is killing me. I know I won’t be able to put my cards back in order in time, so just let me share with you the little I know.’”

“As we laughed, she cleared her throat and began. She said the following: ‘We do not stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. Number one: you have to laugh and find the humor contained in each day.’” Amen, we can sanctify these teachings; that’s all right.

“‘Number two: you have to nurture a dream’”—nurture a dream. “‘When you lose your dream, you die. We have so many people walking around on Earth who are dead and do not know it.’”

“‘Third: there is a difference between growing older and maturing. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for an entire year without doing anything productive, you will still turn twenty. If I am eighty-seven years old and lie in bed for an entire year without doing anything, I will still turn eighty-eight. Anyone can grow older; that does not require any special talent or ability. The key is to mature through the constant discovery of the opportunities contained in life and in change.’”

“‘Lastly: do not remain in the past, feeding remorse or guilt. Generally, we elderly people do not regret what we did as much as what we did not do. The only people who fear death are those who are possessed by some kind of remorse.’”

“At the end of the year, Rose earned the college degree she had begun so many years before. One week after graduation, Rose died peacefully in her sleep. More than two thousand college students attended her funeral, paying tribute to the wonderful woman who taught us through her example that it is never too late to be young.”

“With her positive attitude, her humor, and her willingness to take risks despite her advanced age, Rose showed that we can achieve our dreams no matter how old we are. Life is waiting for us to embark upon the journey of knowledge, triumph, and personal growth.” All that and much more is within your reach, child of God. It is within your reach through the power of God that moves within you. By employing the principles God has provided in His Word, we can confidently declare, as the apostle Paul did: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

For the person committed to taking advantage of every circumstance in life for personal growth, there are no insurmountable barriers on the road to the summit. Even failures and adversity, even those obstacles that cannot be entirely overcome, can constitute the raw material for our success and personal fulfillment. Through a close union with the power found in Jesus, we are prepared to break the force of the malevolent gravity that drags us toward the ground; strengthened by the Lord and by the power of His might, we obtain the authority and power we need.

We can overcome the arduous struggles that we will inevitably face on the road to personal greatness. When we launch out to conquer our true destiny, we can hear the loving words of Jesus: “Abide in Me, and I in you; I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit.”

Brothers and sisters, let us make a determination this morning to launch out upon the road to greatness, the road of perpetual growth. May the Lord bless you, and may these words help us believe that we can achieve great things through the power of Christ within us.

Let us stand for a moment. Receive God’s challenge this morning. Tell yourself: I can achieve the impossible through the power of God within me. God has called me to greatness and excellence. God has called me to be a knight-errant, an accomplished lady on a perpetual journey toward an exalted goal. God has not called me to submit to anything, as the apostle Paul says: “I will not allow myself to be enslaved by anything, but I strike at the air; I strike with a goal in mind, to tear down every thought and take it captive into submission to Christ Jesus.”

What are the areas of your life that need to be submitted to God? Some spiritual bondage, some complex, some fear? Some wound from the past that haunts you? Some abuse you suffered? Some moral failure for which you have not managed to forgive yourself, even though God has already forgiven you? Some childhood memory that you play like a recorder in there, like a tape stuck in the past? Low self-esteem?

What is your struggle? Where are those areas of your life that call God’s declaration a lie: “I have come that you may have life, and have it abundantly”? God can use everything in life: failures, struggles, losses, pain. None of that is designed to bring you down, destroy you, or defeat you. God has allowed it to become a stepping-stone toward your greatness, so that you may become more like Christ, who through His sufferings became obedient, even obedient to the cross, and God gave Him a Name above every name and exalted Him to the highest place.

We can use life’s losses, sufferings, and defects as stepping-stones toward greatness. They are exercises that He allows to enter our surroundings so that, by wrestling with them, our spiritual and moral muscles may develop and we may become those spiritual giants who aid the weak, rescue the lost, inspire the fearful, and renew hope in a society that becomes more and more cynical every day. That is what God wants you to be.

And God says: “You know what? I am going to allow pain to enter your life. Since your childhood, I have allowed this to happen and that to happen, but it is all because I want to use you so that you may become like My Son, an agent of renewal and life for humanity, because, after all, I have the entire universe to give you when you finish your race here. And when you arrive up there, you will understand that everything you went through here was merely an illusion, merely exercises, because what is real is what I have set apart for you. So do not obsess over the small discomforts of this world. Think about what awaits you up there, and live your life exalting the values of My Kingdom and reflecting the spiritual greatness of My Son.”

So this morning I invite you to embrace the ethic of a spiritual giant, a warrior of God, an excellent woman fit to do the works of Your Kingdom. I invite you to believe that everything is possible for the one who believes in the Lord Jesus. Name your giants and proceed to defeat them one by one until death overtakes you, and then they will all fall at your feet, because then you will be like Christ Jesus, perfect in every way.

Father, thank You. We bless this Word shared with Your people; we sow it in their spirits, Lord. Even though we may not remember everything we have heard, I ask that it reverberate in our hearts, Lord, until Christ comes, and that it may be a Word of encouragement to undertake the great projects and the small projects of life as well. Thank You for the privilege of coming to Your House, Lord.

We bless our brothers and sisters, particularly our fathers on this day. We praise Your Name and give glory and honor exclusively to You, Lord, in the Name of Jesus. And the people of God say: Amen. God bless you, my brothers and sisters.