Ephesians 4:1, “Therefore, as a prisoner for the Lord, I encourage you to live as people worthy of the call you received from God.”
When I was thinking about the season we’re in at Life-Spring, having just ended our fast and settling in to a new year, a topic came to mind that I spoke about some time ago. The idea of a fixed mindset vs. growth mindset is from the field of education, but I think many of the ideas there apply to where we are as a church.
The idea behind the fixed vs. growth mindset is that there are two ways to approach growth and learning. When we have a fixed mindset, we believe that our characteristics are unchangeable and unmoveable. With a growth mindset, we believe that characteristics can be developed, even though this may take some effort. Take writing, for example. A person with a fixed mindset tells themself, “I’m not a good writer.” A person with a growth mindset says, “With practice, I can improve my writing skills and become a better writer.” Another example of a fixed mindset is a person who says, “I’m already a good writer, I don’t need to improve.” A person with a growth mindset says, “There’s always ways to improve my writing skills.” I think we can also have a fixed vs. growth mindset when it comes to our relationship with God.
A person with a fixed mindset may say, “I have a good relationship with God. I hope I can maintain this relationship long term.” A person with a growth mindset says, “I know God wants my relationship with Him to grow. What step could I take to grow in my relationship with God?”
Our theme for this year is “for His name’s sake,” and I think that this theme really pushes us to take a growth mindset in our faith. There may have been times in the past when it was OK for us to simply maintain our faith on autopilot. But the call to live for the sake of the King is a much greater calling. In Ephesians, Paul encourages the people to “live as people worthy of the call you received from God.” The call to live for His name’s sake is one that calls us to live up to God’s calling, not to simply coast. We need to desire to grow in love for God and love for others more, the greatest commandment.
My prayer is that we would be people who are never simply satisfied in our walk with God. We may be new to faith, or we may have been faithful Christians for many years. Whatever the case, may we always look to grow in our relationship with God, as people who are called for His name’s sake.