Here are seven things that change when you start walking

My youngest granddaughter, Ciana, was recently in my home for a week.  In that week, she started walking!

I watched as she pulled herself up.  Then, she walked, holding onto furniture.  Finally, the day came when I “caught her” take two steps across the great divide!

We all went crazy, clapping and cheering for her.

God wants to watch you “walk.”  It’s a stage of maturity He longs to observe in your life.

“As you received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk in Him” (Col. 2: 6)

Here are seven symptoms that you are beginning to “walk” as a Christian:  

1.Walk in LIGHT

God calls sin “darkness.”  Before we knew Christ, we all  “walked in darkness.”

There came a day, however, when our eyes were opened.   We stepped “into the light.”  We received the blood of Jesus and were instantly cleansed and “born again.”

That new spiritual baby began to “walk in the light”  and no longer in darkness.

2. Walk in TRUTH

It is a sign of maturity when you stop lying. In our “B.C.” (before Christ) days, we would cover our failures with lies.  

Now, we admit and even confess our faults.

Grow up and put lies aside.  God loves you just as you are, “warts and all.”

3. Walk in LOVE

When we walked in darkness, we hated, gossiped, took revenge, and acted like a little child.

When we grow up in Christ, we walk in love.  

We get along with people who are hard to love.  

We hold our tongues when we could curse someone out. 

We learn to forgive and quit bearing grudges.

4. Walk in the SPIRIT

Babies that crawl pick up every small thing off the floor….and eat it.

When a baby walks, she stops eating those things because she now walks so much “higher!”

Pornography is “dirt on the floor.”  Adultery is “disgusting food on the floor.”  Stealing becomes “ridiculous childishness.”

Get up off the floor and “walk in the Spirit.”  

5. Walk in FAITH

We are told to “walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7).

Babies are fearful of walking because they feel insecure.  They have no confidence.

Christians often fear (like Peter) “walking on water.”  Peter took his eyes off Christ and put them on the waves.

Walk confidently that Christ is right there to walk with you….and catch you when you fall! 

6. Walk WORTHY

Paul said, “Walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing” (Col 1: 10).

A baby usually only thinks of themselves.  When a child walks, she usually feels her parents’ pleasure in them.  Everyone stands around clapping for them!

God wants you to please Him. A mature Christian starts to prefer doing God’s will to his own.  

7. Walk in WISDOM

“Look carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise” (Eph. 5: 15).

Foolishness is failing to respect important things:  your marriage, money, and time.

“Walking in wisdom” concerns “growing up” in your family relationships, finances, and time management.

You choose the best way in every situation rather than the easy way.  

Like little Ciana, it’s time to stop “crawling.”  Stand up.  Get your balance.  Then, take a step.

Your Father, in heaven, will start “clapping.”