2024 Christian Education Month: Are You Hungry?

At Trinity, June is always Christian Education Month. During this month, we become more intentional about our responsibility to grow and develop spiritually so we can become more like the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:29) which should be the goal of every believer. The longer we stay in a relationship with Christ, the more we should resemble Him.

In his Turning Point Daily Devotional for April 16, David Jeremiah writes:

Some time ago, The New York Times reported a study showing that couples who are happily married for long periods really do begin to look alike. Even if the man and woman bore no resemblance at their wedding, they showed marked resemblances later in life. Moreover, the more marital happiness a couple reported, the greater the increase in facial resemblance. The change apparently is due to decades of shared emotions and similar lifestyles.

As time goes by, Christians increasingly should resemble Jesus. After all, we’re the bride of Christ, and we share His emotions and lifestyle. Romans 8:29 says God has predestined us to be “conformed to the image of His Son,” and according to 2 Corinthians 3:18, the Holy Spirit transforms us by stages into the image of Christ.

I can testify that Dr. Jeremiah’s words are valid because I have “shared emotions and similar lifestyle” with my wife (30 years) to the point that we can finish one another’s sentences. Nevertheless, the more significant point is that people in a relationship with Christ should resemble Him. 

Even though every believer should resemble the Lord Jesus Christ, many who profess to know Christ personally do not. They have failed to pursue holiness (Christlikeness), and the result is that they resemble the world more than Christ (1 Cor. 3:1-4). Some fail at pursuing holiness because they are waiting for the day when a complete transformation into Christlikeness will occur. In 1 John 3:3, John wrote, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him because we see Him just as He is” (NASB). There will be a day when all believers are completely changed to resemble Christ. However, before that day arrives, God knows that every believer should pursue holiness. In Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Donald S. Whitney rightly observed, “Although God will grant Christlikeness to us when Jesus returns, until then, He intended for us to move toward it. We aren’t merely to wait for holiness; we’re to pursue it.”

A hunger for holiness helps us to pursue holiness. For believers, the presence of the Holy Spirit creates a hunger for holiness and the things that can help us grow and develop in Christlikeness. Whitney identified this hunger by writing, “The presence of the Holy Spirit causes all those in whom He resides to have new holy hungers they didn’t have before. They hunger, for example, for the Holy Word—the Bible—that they used to find boring or irrelevant.” This truth resonated with me because I asked the following question in a recent Midday Becoming Session: “What would it take to get more people involved in our Christian Becoming Sessions?” I received various answers. However, after a brief and productive discussion, I shared that no amount of prodding or inviting others can be effective if a person has no desire or holy hunger for Bible intake for spiritual growth and maturation for the goal of Christlikeness.

Moving away from our previous lifestyle of worldliness and ungodliness is possible only when a desire and craving for holiness is present. In 1 Peter 2:1-2, Peter told his audience that they could jettison “malice, and all deceit and hypocrisy, and envy and all slander” by metaphorically being like “newborn babies, [and] long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it [they] may grow in respect to salvation.” The words “long for” can also mean to “crave.” All believers and children of God should have an intense craving, yearning, or desire for spiritual food (God’s Word) that can help promote spiritual growth and development into Christlikeness. All believers must make the necessary adjustments to the new holy hunger and craving initiated by the Holy Spirit. 

After being diagnosed as a Type 2 diabetic I had to adjust my eating habits. Instead of eating large meals, I eat primarily small meals throughout the day. As a result, I get hungry more frequently. If I don’t eat on time and frequently, my body craves food for sustenance and sustainability. In a short time, I’ve learned to keep food close by to satisfy my hunger. Thankfully, God has blessed us with the resources to satisfy our spiritual hunger and craving. We should be grateful for God’s blessing of spiritual food through His divine and holy Word that satisfies our spiritual hunger and keeps us growing and developing to become more Christlike. We must yield to the Holy Spirit and prioritize the spiritual discipline of Bible intake to ensure consistent movement toward spiritual growth and Christlike development. Are you hungry for spiritual food and holiness? Satisfy that craving with the Word. If you are not hungry for spiritual food and holiness, check your relationship with the Lord and ensure the Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence in your life.