Dear Father, How do we explain a situation in which two children are raised in the same home under the same discipline, yet eventually choose two very different moral paths? Today I pondered the contrast between Elisha and Gehazi. One beheld the prophetic and longed for a double portion; the other stood in the same atmosphere and longed for silver and garments. Was there something different in the training they received, or in the way they received it. I see this reflected in the Christian walk. It is not always a matter of good versus evil, but of why those who travel the same road attain very different levels of spiritual maturity. Though it would be unreasonable to expect identical growth, it is not out of place to question great disparities in spiritual progress. Why is it that, though we begin the journey together, one person grows and bears fruit while another may stagger along the path of growth? Should we question the seed that is sown, or the manner in which it is received? I once learned something from the Parable of the Sower: every seed was good. The difference in the harvest was found not in the seed, but in the soil that received it. Perhaps, then, we should be more intentional about the atmospheres we inhabit, what we do with the graces under which we are trained, and the seeds sown into our hearts. Perhaps this also reminds us that growth is very much our responsibility and demands our deliberate participation. Perhaps we need Your grace. Father, guide my growth so that I may fulfill the destiny You have set before me. Translations; Slide 1: English Slide 2: French Slide 3: Bengali Slide 4: Hindu Slide 5: Urdu #LettertoGod #growth #parableofthesower #spiritialgrowth