The photo of the big little league kid made me shake my head in amazement. Talk about a "man among boys"! Can you imagine the conversations? Kids always compare themselves to each other. This got me thinking about the fact that we do the same spiritually.

What does today's scripture teach us about spiritual growth?

Peter was one of Christ's disciples and had experienced a deep friendship with the Son of God, face to face. He also knew up close and personal what it was like to recognize his own sinful failures and then experience the loving forgiveness of God through what Jesus had done on the cross.

In these verses, Peter is giving both a warning and some essential instruction for all followers of Jesus.

He had been discussing the danger of false teachers. There were "religious" leaders who liked God's forgiveness so much that they had no problem with "christians" continuing to practice their favorite sins.

So Peter's warning is that we need to look out for those who twist God's Truth. His unconditional love and forgiveness does not give us a free pass to sin. Rather, this should motivate us to follow Christ more obediently.

How? By growing in the special favor and knowledge of Jesus! This instruction from Peter is God's desire for each of us. The better we know Jesus, the less desirable "religious" truth twisting will be.

Sometimes I find myself rationalizing my own sinfulness by comparing myself to other Christ followers. If I see myself spiritually BIGGER than others, I must be OK, right? Wrong.

No matter how long we've been a follower of Jesus or how spiritually mature we might be, there's always room for growth.