Before you start to measure your Christian growth, it’s important to understand that the Christian journey is like running a 10K marathon. It is gruelling, and you are likely to stumble many times. But that’s OK. Your goal is to conquer the journey. The Bible tells us that, “The one who conquers, I (Jesus) will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also have overcome and sat down with my Father on his throne” (Revelation 3:21).

But, unlike the temporal marathons, everybody starts with the same advantage, and there is no preparation time. The day you gave your heart to the Lord, that’s when your journey begins. And it is not an annual or four years event. It is continuous.

Still, despite the rough and tumble. There are cool things about running a Christian marathon. For example, everybody is allowed to bring all their baggage along with them. And the more ground you cover, the easier the race gets. Temporal marathons get harder as you run the course, and runners avoid excess weight.

Now, as you navigate your course, you will come upon different baggage stations with labels unique to the baggage you carry. God strategically marked each Baggage station according to His Commandments. And all the stations are mistake proof.

So, my friends, it is reasonable to agree that how much we grow as Christians are directly proportional to the baggage we shed permanently. Everyone has baggage, even if you do not want to admit it. The Bible says, “for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).