While my 14 month old still crawls, and seems content to do so, I often remember that my 2 middle children walked before they were 10 months old! The oldest walked just before her first birthday.

Some of it does have to do with gender, and how girls and boys mature differently. But people in general mature and grow differently-at different paces, in different orders.

Our oldest was speaking fairly clearly with full words at 11-12 months, but she never crawled until about 2 weeks before she started walking… right before she turned 1.

The next two both crawled by 5/6 months and were walking soon after, but they both had trouble forming words coherently until they were well past their second birthdays.

This little baby-man we now have… he took his time learning to crawl. He is taking his time with walking too. And I think he’ll follow those two who took their time talking also.

And I found a lesson to be learned…

every person will grow differently from every other person.

We may meet someone who has had similar experiences as ourselves, but they will not have grown exactly the same. Even siblings, growing up with the same parents, same house, same experiences, same church, same everything… still become different people. And they learn things in different ways and from different circumstances. They even learn the same things in a different order.

And so do baby Christians.

Just because a person was saved at the same time you were does not mean they will automatically be at the same place spiritually that you are every step…. even if you’ve been in the same church and had similar experiences.

And we cannot push people to learn something other than what God is teaching them –right then. Others can observe my growth and be encouraged that God is not done with them. And in turn, I can observe their growth and realize God is not done with me, either!

I may learn a particular lesson earlier in my Christian walk than my husband or a friend, but that does not make me more spiritual. My husband had learned many things I had yet to encounter when we were first married… and now the Lord allows him to be right there helping me through as I learn them later-in different ways.

All of that to say, every other person is going to grow and mature in a different way than I do, just as each of our children grow and learn differently. And I cannot and should not try to push or shove people in their Christian walk…

I must gently guide those the Lord puts in my path to guide {my children, a SS class, close friends, etc}.

I must pray for those He does not give me the authority to instruct {other people’s children who are not in my care, people who do not know my testimony, even those who simply seem to resist me as a person}.

And I must be an example to any who care to observe my life that God does indeed grow people. And I must allow Him to work!

While my 14 month old still crawls, and seems content to do so, I often remember that my 2 middle children walked before they were 10 months old! The oldest walked just before her first birthday.

Some of it does have to do with gender, and how girls and boys mature differently. But people in general mature and grow differently-at different paces, in different orders.

Our oldest was speaking fairly clearly with full words at 11-12 months, but she never crawled until about 2 weeks before she started walking… right before she turned 1.

The next two both crawled by 5/6 months and were walking soon after, but they both had trouble forming words coherently until they were well past their second birthdays.

This little baby-man we now have… he took his time learning to crawl. He is taking his time with walking too. And I think he’ll follow those two who took their time talking also.

And I found a lesson to be learned…

every person will grow differently from every other person.

We may meet someone who has had similar experiences as ourselves, but they will not have grown exactly the same. Even siblings, growing up with the same parents, same house, same experiences, same church, same everything… still become different people. And they learn things in different ways and from different circumstances. They even learn the same things in a different order.

And so do baby Christians.

Just because a person was saved at the same time you were does not mean they will automatically be at the same place spiritually that you are every step…. even if you’ve been in the same church and had similar experiences.

And we cannot push people to learn something other than what God is teaching them –right then. Others can observe my growth and be encouraged that God is not done with them. And in turn, I can observe their growth and realize God is not done with me, either!

I may learn a particular lesson earlier in my Christian walk than my husband or a friend, but that does not make me more spiritual. My husband had learned many things I had yet to encounter when we were first married… and now the Lord allows him to be right there helping me through as I learn them later-in different ways.

All of that to say, every other person is going to grow and mature in a different way than I do, just as each of our children grow and learn differently. And I cannot and should not try to push or shove people in their Christian walk…

I must gently guide those the Lord puts in my path to guide {my children, a SS class, close friends, etc}.

I must pray for those He does not give me the authority to instruct {other people’s children who are not in my care, people who do not know my testimony, even those who simply seem to resist me as a person}.

And I must be an example to any who care to observe my life that God does indeed grow people. And I must allow Him to work!