Spiritual growth

A maker of quilts writes this in her blog, “I learned one thing, never try to quilt in the ditch without using my ruler.”

From this statement, I know that she is not a bad driver who does her quilting off the road somewhere, nor is she a beginner who needs a ruler to draw a straight line. This person is an experienced and knowledgeable quilter.

“In the ditch” is a term that describes quilting stitches that are on the seam lines between quilt patches. The need for a ruler to do it refers to those who use a longarm quilting machine, a huge and expensive piece of equipment most beginners would not know about or even consider. The person who wrote that line not only knows the “lingo” but has at least some skill in using an industrial quilting machine.

Learning how to quilt is a bit like learning how to live as a Christian. In the beginning, I was just delighted with it all. I purchased my first book because I loved the pictures of the quilts in it. As I grew in my ability, I began to realize that first book was for experienced quilters, not a beginner. I also learned that quilting isn’t as easy as regular sewing. Challenges and making mistakes have taught me much.

Today’s verse is about growing as a Christian, which also involves both knowledge and practice. It hints that there are beginners, intermediates, and experienced people who follow Christ, just as there are beginners and those more experienced in quilting. The verse says:

I write to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, because you have known the Father. (1 John 2:13)

The author of Truth for Today says that his experience has taught him about the different levels of spiritual growth described in this verse and its context. As a spiritual babe, he too was taken up in the euphoria of knowing God, but he didn’t know much theology, just as I was taken up in the excitement of learning how to quilt without realizing what I was getting into.

He also says that at that time he was easily influenced by anyone’s teaching, but later, as he learned the Word of God, false doctrine no longer deceived him, but made him angry. I cannot find a parallel to that in quilting, but I also came to a place in my Christian life where I realized not everyone was sincere or telling me things that came from the Bible. I felt the same anger at false teaching and wanted to correct it whenever I heard it.

This author also says that now he has grown in his knowledge of the Bible his greater desire is to know God more intimately. He calls this the final level of growth, where spiritual “fathers” not only know the Bible, but also know deeply the God who wrote it.

I agree, and this is where the parallel with quilting falls away. Somewhere in the past few years my desire to collect information, compare teachings, and solidify my theology has taken second place to better knowing God. I used to worry about getting things biblical, using the best methods, having the right words — and I know those things are still important — but now I’m more drawn to God Himself. He guides me and shows me what to say and do. I simply need to be near Him, listening to Him, talking to Him.

In today’s verse, the experience of the “little children” and the “fathers” sounds much the same. Both “know” Him. I can see how that works too. I’ve come back to that same sense of wonder that I had as a new Christian, the wonder of knowing God. However, now I have a foundation of learned theology (including how to overcome the wicked one) behind and beneath that awe, making it much deeper, less based on my feelings and lighthearted emotions (my emotions are richer and deeper now) and more grounded in the amazing truth of who He is — my Father and my God.