Our first area of maintenance has to be our relationship with God. This requires us to pray, communicating and spending time with God. We need to read the Bible in order to understand what God reveals of Himself and of life; we need to memorise this word too so that it becomes embedded in our lives, for the Bible reveals what God is like and shows us what we should do. It encourages faith and inspires us. Nothing is more crucial to spiritual growth than developing our personal relationship with God.
We need also, however, to maintain our relationship with other people. We are all created to be relational people; we have a need for fellowship and interaction, no matter how introverted we may be! This interaction involves give and take. We can learn much from other people, including different perspectives on life, and can learn from the more experienced and learn from the mistakes and failures of others as well as from their successes. We have a responsibility to pass on what we have learned and to pray with and for each other. Church is not about a hierarchy (starting at the bottom and working our way ‘up’ to ‘important’ roles); it is about growing into a family, knowing we are loved and secure in that relationship.
In 2 Timothy, we see how Paul mentored Timothy, a young man who accompanied him on missionary trips and was left to look after churches in Ephesus. The letter, probably the last Paul wrote, was intended to encourage Timothy in his ministry. Paul reminds Timothy to ‘fan into flame the gift of God’ (2 Tim 1:6) – reminding him that he had a personal responsibility to maintain his faith. Matt 25:14-30 shows us that God gives gifts to all of us and we are expected to make good use of these gifts. Rewards and punishments were given according to the faithfulness or lack of faithfulness shown by the stewards. We need to take seriously the gifts God has given us and develop these. We need also to make the most of every opportunity we have (see Mk 9:41, Rom 12:4-8) and understand that a wide range of gifts are given (so often, we think of ‘spiritual gifts’ as prophecy or teaching, but Paul includes service and encouragement in his list of spiritual gifts, things we often disregard as being unimportant.)
If God has blessed us with sensitivity, we must learn to come alongside others and share and encourage people. If God has blessed us with wealth, we must learn to give well. Whatever gifts we have received need to be nurtured and used. If we despise these gifts, we will not use them, but will allow them to become dormant or to stagnate. God wants us to maintain and use what He has given us so that we are built up and the church too is strengthened, comforted and encouraged.
