What expectations do you have of a baby?

Surely not the same for a toddler or a teenager.

Why?

Because they are all at different stages of development and consequently would exhibit different behaviours. As a result, our tolerance level would adjust to suit.

Similarly, we are all at different stages in our Christian walk. Some of us are babes, others toddlers, still others tweens, teens and adults.

What’s my point?

We need to be mindful that varying levels of maturity in the Word would be evident among such a mixed group.

Consequently, we must learn to be patient with each other.

Often, we turn people away by our zealousness in correcting behaviour which we consider to be unseemingly.

Nevermind that we have our own struggles and are not perfect ourselves.

Our intentions may be good, but we need to remember that each of our brothers and sisters is a work in progress; in fact so are we.

The Potter is not finished with any of us yet.

When you look at a caterpillar or a cocoon, they’re not necessarily the prettiest sights; without those stages however, we wouldn’t have the beautiful butterflies that we admire.

So let us pray for one another and patiently believe that at the end of the sculpting process, each one of us will turn out to be a beautiful, one-of-a-kind masterpiece.