"Until we all reach unity in the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ."  Ephesians 4:13 NIV

We will need teachers, evangelists, apostles, pastors and prophets until we reach unity. This is called the five fold ministry. I used to be a member of a church called Pinecrest and this chapter was our declaration. I appreciate this chapter because it teaches us much of what we need in the body of Christ.

This "attaining of the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" is an overwhelming task. It could never be undertaken in our natural selves. Some of us may have tried to do this in our own strength. All this did was exhaust us, and defeat us as christians.

 We were never meant to take on a spiritual task in the natural. Actually the idea is quite ridiculous, and I tried it not realizing at all what I was doing. Once I got on track with God leading me life it was immeasurably easier.

Right now I can say I will never be complete on earth. God's work on my life will not end while I'm alive. We can always learn, grow, and become more like Jesus. I want to be reaching farther and growing more everyday. We need to be hungry!

What do I mean by this? I want to search deeper, grow stronger, be healthier. Our natural self will take over if we stop. We are leaky as christians. I watched a u-tube video made by Dr. Caroline Leaf, a christian neuroscientist. She said we need to listen to a talk or read information over and over again in order for it to make it into our memories. She told us if we want to increase brain intelligence we need to laugh. Good word!

What makes you laugh? Maturity is the ability to laugh at ourselves among other things. Do we take ourselves too seriously? I was mad at my daughter for not respecting my wishes. As I thought about it, I realized she didn't really understand what my wishes were. 

She was caught up in her own thoughts about her High School Formal and hadn't heard me. I apologized about being mad with her, and asked God to help me assess the situation in the future with better  accuracy before I jump to a conclusion.

God listens to us, as parents we need to take the initiative to follow in His footsteps and listen to our children. We aren't going to change overnight, so taking one step at a time will make a difference over the years. Let's give ourselves some slack, and not judge ourselves too harshly. The world will judge us harshly. "Laugh at the days to come!" Proverbs 31:25