Getting Older Doesn’t Mean You’re Growing

Colossians 2:6-7 calls every follower of Jesus to keep moving. Salvation is the beginning of the journey, not the end of it. Jesus meets people where they are, but He loves them way too much to leave them there. Every person, whether following Jesus for thirty minutes or thirty years, has a next step.

The image of roots shows where real growth starts. Roots are hidden, but they provide nutrients, stability, and strength. Sequoia trees stand tall because their roots are interwoven with other trees, and disciples need that same kind of strength from a foundation in Jesus, God’s Word, prayer, obedience, and community. What happens privately will eventually determine what happens publicly, because the fruit in a life reveals what that life is rooted in.

Spiritual growth requires intentionality. Time and maturity are two different things. James warns that information without application does not produce transformation, and hearing Jesus without obeying Jesus only fools the hearer. The better question is not how long someone has been a Christian, but how much Jesus has been allowed to change that person.

Hebrews calls believers to strip off every weight and the sin that trips them up. Jesus does not save people so they can get better at carrying chains, white knuckling burdens, or staying stuck in what has held them down. John 8 promises that those whom the Son sets free are free indeed. Freedom does not pretend the past never happened. Freedom refuses to let the past determine the future. God can use the past as a foundation to build the future, but He does not call His people to live chained to it.

Proverbs 27 shows that growth happens in community. Isolation protects secrets, but community produces freedom. Rows matter, but circles matter too. God sharpens people through relationships, groups, honest conversations, and the kind of shared life where people are both sharpened and used to sharpen others.

Romans 12 makes the goal clear: not more religious activity, but transformation into a new person through a changed mind. The Spirit produces fruit that others can experience, including love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Philippians 1 promises that God will continue the good work He began. “Not there yet” does not mean “not growing.” Jesus calls each person to take the next step toward Him.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Salvation begins the journey of growth. Colossians does not allow salvation to become a stopping point. Jesus becomes both Forgiver of the past and Leader into the future, which means following Him always involves movement. Every stage of discipleship holds a next step because Jesus keeps drawing His people closer to Himself. [02:45]
• 2. Roots determine the fruit of life. Hidden habits, beliefs, and relationships eventually show up in visible fruit. A life rooted in Jesus gains stability when circumstances shake, nourishment when strength runs low, and direction through God’s Word. Strong roots also grow alongside other believers rather than treating spiritual life as private. [05:01]
• 3. Obedience turns truth into transformation. Information alone can fill a mind while leaving a life unchanged. James exposes the danger of hearing God’s Word without doing it, because that kind of faith can become self-deception. Jesus changes people as they take real steps of obedience in the places where His Word confronts them. [07:55]
• 4. Freedom refuses the past final authority. The past may contain real sin, pain, wounds, and burdens, but it does not get to define the future. Jesus did not carry the cross so His people could become better at carrying chains. His freedom invites honest acknowledgment of the past and a real release from its control. [11:59]
• 5. Community brings secrets into freedom. Isolation can feel safe because it keeps hidden things hidden, but it also leaves burdens untouched. God uses people like iron sharpening iron, even when the sharpening feels uncomfortable. Circles of honest relationship become places where believers receive strength, give strength, and grow into what God designed them to be.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:58] - Every Person Has a Next Step
• [02:22] - Salvation Is the Starting Point
• [03:33] - Let Your Roots Grow Down
• [05:47] - Building a Strong Foundation
• [06:05] - Growth Requires Intentionality
• [07:55] - Information and Application
• [09:22] - Leaving Weights and Sin Behind
• [10:44] - Walking in True Freedom
• [12:39] - Growth Happens in Community
• [15:31] - Taking the Next Step
• [18:10] - Transformation, Not Religious Activity
• [19:08] - The Fruit of Becoming Like Jesus
• [20:02] - Jesus Is Not Finished With You

Bible Reading

Colossians 2:6-7
“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” [02:28]

James 1:22
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” [07:51]

Hebrews 12:1
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,” [10:10]

John 8:36
“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” [10:57]

Proverbs 27:17
“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” [12:50]

Romans 12:2
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” [18:16]

Galatians 5:22-23
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” [18:56]

Philippians 1:6
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” [19:32]

Psalm 119:105
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” [05:33]

Observation questions

1. In Colossians 2:6-7, what actions and pictures describe continuing to follow Jesus after receiving Him as Lord? [02:28]
2. What does the image of tree roots reveal about where strength, stability, and visible fruit come from? [03:33]
3. According to James 1:22, what is the difference between hearing God’s Word and doing God’s Word, and what danger comes from hearing without obeying? [07:51]
4. Hebrews 12:1 names both “every weight” and “sin.” What difference does the passage seem to make between something that slows a person down and sin that trips a person up? [10:03]

Interpretation questions

1. Colossians says believers are to be “rooted and built up in” Christ. What would it look like for a person’s foundation to be in Jesus rather than in circumstances, approval from others, or personal effort? [05:40]
2. James warns that hearing without doing is self-deception. Why can it be easier for a believer to collect biblical information than to obey God in a specific area of life? [08:00]
3. Jesus promises true freedom in John 8:36. How does the truth that freedom does not deny the past, but refuses to let the past control the future, help someone face real sin, wounds, or regrets honestly? [12:02]
4. Proverbs 27:17 describes people sharpening one another. Why can honest Christian community sometimes feel uncomfortable, and how can that discomfort become helpful rather than harmful? [13:12]

Application questions

1. Every follower of Jesus has a next step, whether they have followed Him for a short time or many years. What is one clear next step God may be inviting you to take right now? [20:52]
2. What has been feeding your roots lately—God’s Word, prayer, obedience, Christian community, social media, work, fear, or something else? What fruit has that root system been producing in your life? [05:01]
3. Is there a truth from Scripture that you know but have been slow to put into practice? What would one specific act of obedience look like this week? [08:32]
4. Is there a weight, pattern of sin, unhealthy friendship, anxiety, or burden that has been slowing you down in following Jesus? What could it look like to lay it down instead of continuing to white-knuckle it alone? [09:31]
5. In what area does your past still try to tell you who you are or what your future will be? How does Jesus’ promise of freedom speak into that area? [12:10]
6. Where have you been tempted to isolate and protect a secret instead of allowing trusted believers to walk with you? What kind of honest, safe conversation might be a faithful next step? [15:04]
7. Which fruit of the Spirit would the people closest to you most want to see grow in your life—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control? What practice could help you cooperate with the Spirit in that area this week? [18:56]