What "Growing in Grace" means
Tauren Wells has built a catalog that consistently engages the intersection of theological precision and accessible contemporary sound, and this song sits squarely in that territory. The title phrase "growing in grace" comes directly from the language of 2 Peter 3:18, and it captures a dimension of the Christian life that is easy to overlook in worship settings that focus primarily on the moment of salvation or the posture of thanksgiving. This song is about the journey after the beginning. It is about the ongoing, daily, sometimes invisible process of becoming more fully what God has already declared you to be.
"Growing" implies that the current state is not the final state. There is movement. There is development. Something that was smaller is becoming larger. Something that was less formed is gaining definition. The word is inherently hopeful because it assumes that the trajectory is upward, that the direction of the person is toward something rather than away from it.
The pairing with "grace" is what gives the growth its character. Growth in grace is not self-improvement, not willpower-driven moral development, not the accumulation of spiritual disciplines as a method of pulling yourself toward God. It is growth that grace is doing, growth that happens in the atmosphere of God's unearned favor, growth that is received as much as it is pursued. This is the theological nuance the song holds: you are growing, and the growing is happening because of what God is doing in you, not merely because of what you are doing for God.
What this song does in a room
At 82 BPM in 4/4 in A, this song has a brightness and forward movement that the key of A tends to carry naturally. It is not a slow, reflective song. It has momentum. And that momentum is appropriate to the content: a song about growth should feel like something is moving.
What the song tends to do in a room is speak to the people who are in the middle of the story rather than at a dramatic beginning or end. Most people on any given Sunday are not in crisis. They are not in the highest high or the lowest low. They are in the middle, trying to remain faithful, unsure whether they are making progress, wondering whether what they are doing is actually working. This song speaks directly to that place. It says: yes, growth is happening. Grace is at work. You are being formed.
That message tends to reach people below the level of emotional performance. It is not asking the room to feel a particular way. It is declaring a true thing about the room and inviting them to receive it.
What this song is saying about God
The song's central claim about God is that he is at work in his people, actively, continuously, and graciously. The growth the song describes is not the result of exceptional human effort. It is the result of a God who is faithful to complete what he began.
Philippians 1:6 is the doctrinal ground beneath this: God who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. The song is singing from inside that promise. The grace that saves is the same grace that shapes. It does not stop at the moment of conversion and leave the subsequent formation up to the individual. It continues to work, and the song is a declaration that this ongoing work is real and trustworthy.
There is also something in the song about God's patience. Growth takes time. God is not rushing the process or abandoning it when it moves slowly. The song says God is present in the long middle of the spiritual life, not only at the beginning and the end.
Scriptural backbone
2 Peter 3:18 provides the title and the mandate: "But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever." The verse is both command and doxology. It tells you what to do (grow in grace) and it ends where the song ends (glory to him). The growth is oriented toward someone. It is not growth for self-actualization. It is growth toward knowing Christ more fully, which is why it ends in worship rather than achievement.
Philippians 1:6 reinforces the confidence: "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." The confidence of the verse is not rooted in the person's consistency but in God's faithfulness. That is the same confidence the song carries.
How to use it in a service
This song works well in sermon series that address discipleship, spiritual formation, sanctification, or the long arc of the Christian life. It is not a crisis song or a conversion song. It is a formation song, built for the ordinary Sunday when the message is about staying faithful, about the ongoing process of becoming.
It also works well as a mid-set song that moves from declaration into response, from stating what God has done to living inside what God is doing. The growth tag and maturity tag signal a slightly older emotional register than a pure praise song, which makes it a good fit for congregations that include a significant number of people who have been walking with God for years and need a song that speaks to the middle of that journey, not the beginning.
In key of A at 82 BPM, it can follow songs in A or E without a key change. It builds naturally into fuller arrangements as the set develops.
Things to watch for as the worship leader
The theological content of this song is precise, and precision requires your active engagement as the leader. Do not coast through the lyrics. Be aware of what you are singing, because the room is learning what to believe about the Christian life partly by watching what you believe as you lead.
Watch for the people in your congregation who are discourages about their spiritual progress. They are in every room. This song is one of the most directly relevant things you can offer them on an ordinary Sunday. If you can, let that awareness shape the warmth with which you lead. You are not performing a theological concept. You are offering something to someone specific who is sitting in a specific chair with specific doubts about whether anything is happening in them.
Also watch the tempo. At 82 BPM, the song has energy that can be pushed into a performance groove. Keep the heart of the song pastoral even as the arrangement has momentum. The two are not mutually exclusive, but the pastoral quality has to be the anchor.
A note for the team behind you (techs, vocalists, band)
Vocalists, the key of A sits in a comfortable range for most singers, but it also requires brightness and clarity rather than a heavy, chest-voice approach. Keep the tone forward and warm. The background vocal phrasing should echo the lead's declarative quality without becoming a competing voice. Breathe together. The unity of the vocal team models the unity-in-growth the song is about.
Band, the 82 BPM groove in A benefits from a driving acoustic guitar or piano pattern that keeps the forward momentum without becoming frantic. If you have a full band, the arrangement can build from a sparse first verse to a fuller chorus, giving the song a sense of development that mirrors the growth theme. The bridge, if the song has one, is typically the place to bring the full arrangement to bear.
For the tech team, the mix should be bright and clear rather than warm and intimate. This is a forward-facing, momentum-carrying song, and the sonic picture should match that posture. Make sure the lyrics are on screen long enough for the congregation to read them comfortably. The theological precision of the lyrics requires that people actually read what they are singing rather than humming through phrases they half-remember. Consider highlighting key phrases in the lyric display if your system supports it.