OceanSide church of Christ
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SPIRITUAL GROWTH IN OLD AGE
Victor M.
Eskew
Physical growth for most people is completed by the age of twenty. There are instances when some growth
spurts have occurred after this age, but these are the exception, not the
rule. Other types of growth,
however, can continue long after one becomes a young adult. Mental, emotional, and spiritual growth
can continue well into old age.
Such does not always happen.
One writer put it in these words:
“However, this pursuit of growth does not always last. As we grow
older, our zeal to become bigger and better changes. Our tendency
is to become more focused on where we have been than on
where
we are going, and our idea of success is measured more often by
what we have than what we are continuing to
become.”
The following chart can help
one assess whether he has ceased growing or is continuing to
develop:
Lack of Growth
Continued
Growth
Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Stagnate
Excitement
Discouraged
Encouraged
Reflection
Goal-setting
Impossible
Possibilities
Backward look
Forward look
Rest
Effort
For those over the age of
fifty, we ask: “Can you put
yourself in the growth category?”
In some areas, it may be perfectly acceptable for one to cease
growing. Spiritually, however, one
should never cease the growth process.
In the remainder of this article, we want to encourage those who are
older to continue to mature in their spiritual lives. First, let us assure you that spiritual
growth is still possible in old age.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians, saying: “For which cause we faint not; but
though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (II
Cor. 4:16). Most of the time, the
outer man has little bearing on the inner man. The outer man aches and hurts. The inner man, on the other hand, can
still be sharp and active. Because
the inner man is still strong, older individuals can continue to mature in
Christ.
Second, the fact that one can continue to grow spiritually in old age
should bring much excitement. An
elderly gentleman once told this writer that he was often discouraged because he
could no longer do many of the physical things he did in the past. This is not the case with spiritual
growth. Those who are older can
still read, study, outline, memorize, and meditate on the Word of God. Paul
was an older man when imprisoned in
Third, spiritual growth comes by desiring God’s Word and applying it to
one’s life. Peter wrote: “As newborn babes, desire the sincere
milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (I Pet. 2:2). Those who are older need to block off
large segments of time wherein they devote themselves to God’s Word. They need to eat abundant portions of
the bread of life. They need to
drink deeply from the fountain of living water. Once they are filled, they can then
exercise their inner man in service to God. Again, it was Paul who admonished his
readers to “exercise thyself rather unto godliness” (I Tim. 4:7). When the physical body is limited in its
movements, the spiritual man can still vigorously exercise. This exercise of godliness has benefits
both now and in eternity (I Tim. 4:8).
Fourth, spiritual growth in old age enables one to specialize and delve
into those things that are difficult.
Fortunately, most of the Bible is simple to understand. There are, however, some things that are
deep and difficult. It was the
apostle Peter who noted that some of the things that Paul wrote are “hard to be
understood” (II Pet. 3:16). An
elderly individual can use his previous knowledge, wisdom, and experiences to
come to a deeper understanding of God’s Word. He can take some time and research the
more difficult texts. What a
blessing to be able to seek the deeper treasures of God’s
Word.
Fifth, the spiritual growth of the elderly brings benefits to themselves
and to others. We have already seen
that the exercise of godliness has promise of the life that now is, and of that
which is to come. This growth can
also benefit those who are younger.
In Titus 2, Paul exhorts the “aged women” to be “teachers of good things”
(Tit. 2:3). He continues in verses
4 and 5 with these words: “That
they may teach the young woman to be sober, to love their husbands, to love
their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their
own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.” The older have much to offer those who
are younger. The older have
acquired knowledge, weathered hardships, fought the enemy, and experienced the
ups and downs of life. Their words
are golden nuggets of wisdom to the young, unlearned, and inexperienced. Some youth greatly desire their
wisdom. When the elderly offer it,
the young drink from it deeply.
Old age is not the time to cease one’s spiritual growth. As long as one’s lungs can breath and
the mind can think, there can be growth.
This writer has often heard the elderly use their age as an excuse for
being spiritually stagnation. If
this has happened to you, develop a new resolution to begin to grow again. If you are in old age or approaching it,
we hope that you have been encouraged to grow in your twilight years. “For our light affliction, which is but
for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not
seen: for the things which are seen
are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. For we know that if our earthly house of
this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made
with hands, eternal in the heavens” (II Cor. 4:17-5:1).