Joint Effort — Scripture Reflection #042

1 Corinthians 15:10 (New Living Translation)

10 But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out His special favor on me–and not without result. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by His grace.

We must recognize that our spiritual growth and maturity take a combination of God’s grace and our hard work. We cannot grow and mature into who God wants us to be without His helping hand, and we also need to do our part to preserve our spiritual gains. It is like baking a loaf of bread: while God is like the yeast that makes the bread rise, or the oven that finishes the bake, we must still do the hard work of kneading the dough to prepare it for the transformation that will take place. Growing close to God and doing His will is a joint effort.