“When will you grow up?”  You’ve either been asked this, or at least thought it when watching your children, or someone else’s.  What are we looking for?  And what is missing that would cause us to ask?  We all have a standard that we use to definine growth.  We expect boys to stop joking around and eventually get serious as they grow up.  Play should be replaced with work.  Skateboards should be turned in for cars.  And video games should be replaced by getting a real job.

Ephesians 4:14-15 tells us how God expects us to grow up.  “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.  Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is Christ.”

There it is.  A standard for each of us to use when determining whether we are growing up.  Whether our family is growing up.  Whether our church is growing up.  We are called to grow up to be like Christ.  There couldn’t be any loftier goal.  How do we do this?  By “speaking the truth in love” in all things.  Our culture today, even the church culture likes half of this message.  Today it is actually quite popular to speak “love in all things”.  But “truth” doesn’t have quite the same reputation.  In fact, if you do happen to speak a little truth, you’ve just stepped over the line and deserve to be flogged and beaten by the loving people you’ve just offended.

Yet the world and the church is running from the very thing that the Word of God says can set them free---Truth!  Truth sets us free.  Our world is craving freedom and yet remains in bondage because it is looking for freedom apart from truth, and there is literally no such thing.

So here would be my belay to you and your family.  Don’t use parenting books to determine whether you are growing up.  Use the Word of God.  It’s the Climbing Guide for this climb.  And this text in Ephesians is powerful.  If you want your cute little babies to grow up, don’t just feed them milk and steak, give them “truth in love in all things”.

Tell them the truth about their sin nature.  Tell them the truth about yours.  Model the truth by repenting of your sin and asking them for forgiveness when you violate the truth.  Study the Truth.  You’ll quickly see that Truth is a person.  Jesus himself says, “I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life…”  You’ll also see Jesus label himself as love too.  It’s no mystery why he does this.  He knows that when these two come together they will ignite and grow a person, a family, a church up to become like Him.

So are you growing up?  How about your family?  If you are lovingly avoiding the truth, you are not loving.  If you are truthfully speaking without love, you are not being truthful.  This mixture requires wisdom that you and I do not have.  We are either prone to melt in love or heat them up with the truth.  When truth is given from a heart of love, this has the power to not only grow us up, but those around us.  Praise the Lord for giving us a standard and a way to grow up.