When my son, Gideon, was in first grade, he started taking piano lessons. So naturally, when he had to write his first “how to” paper in school, this is what he wrote:

As his mom, I think this is the cutest thing ever.  I love the misspelled words. I love the punctuation errors.  I love the simplicity of his instructions and the stick-figure drawing.  And of course my favorite part is “ask your dad.” (He still knows better than to ask his mom!)

When you read this, you probably don’t well up with pride like I do, but I’m sure you still have positive thoughts. You may think, “How cute!” or “What a sweet drawing,” or “What potential that boy has!”

But let’s face it. We can both see that Gideon has a lot to learn (in writing, drawing, and piano playing). But even though this piece is far from perfect, it still makes us smile. Why?

Because we know the maturity level of the author.

We expect a 7-year-old to perform on a different level than a 17-year-old. We expect someone of his age to get some things wrong. We expect him to have room to grow and develop. Without even thinking about it, we willingly give him grace to stumble forward.

At church recently, we talked about ways that we can encourage someone who is a new believer. One of the things we discussed was how we should be a little more forgiving when new Christians make mistakes. Sometimes we expect them to be just as spiritually mature as we are, even if they are just beginning to grow in their faith. We fixate on the minor things they still do wrong instead of encouraging them in the areas where they are doing things right. We forget that they haven’t heard as many sermons, read as many verses or done as many Bible studies as we have.

We all want the best for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. We want to encourage them instead of discourage them. So, can we make a pact today? Can we agree that when it comes to spiritual growth, we will not compare another person’s beginning to our middle?

Great. It’s a deal!

You know, when I read Gideon’s “How to play peeano” story, I couldn’t help but remember one of the first things I ever wrote in school. You may be familiar with my books, blog posts or magazine articles, but you should know that before I wrote any of those, I wrote this:

As a writer, I am so thankful that I had people who encouraged my messy beginning. Because of that, I have grown into the middle where I am now, and I hope to continue growing.

Let’s do the same for the spiritual beginners around us!

What kind of encouragement did you receive when you were a new believer?