Time is too precious to waste on nonsense. Read more for spiritual growth than professional advancement
Indeed, it is incumbent on us to grow spiritually. It is all of God and all of grace, but it is not passive—it is rather active.
Second Peter 3:18 reminds us:
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
Abraham grew in his faith (Rom. 4). Jesus grew, according to Luke 2:52, says, “Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.”
Genuine spiritual growth always results in a better grasp of our own weaknesses and a greater reliance upon God’s strength.
So, here are 11 keys to Spiritual growth. basically and necessary
1. Know you are saved.
You can’t (shouldn’t) drive the car with the emergency brake on. Spiritually, you cannot grow if you aren’t saved.
Spiritual growth happens after the experience of salvation. It is expected that as a young believer you must have experienced a genuine conversion from sin, Satan, and self before seeking Spiritual growth
What Jesus did, we can’t do. What Jesus accomplished, we couldn’t achieve. What Jesus gives, we can’t earn. We are saved by grace alone!
Believe in the trustworthiness of Scripture. Believe in the finality of Jesus’ death (it was full and perfect and we can’t add to it). You must call upon the name of the Lord by faith in Christ alone you are saved. And, finally, there must be a changed and transformed life (spiritual fruit is evident).
2. Immerse yourself in Scripture.
There must be a steady, constant intake of the Word of God. The more you put it into practice in your life, is the extent you will grow as a young believer.
Not pouring yourself into the Word of God is not an ability issue or an aptitude issue; it’s an obedience issue. you will never advance beyond your steady diet of God’s Word.
What are some basics you need to know?
1. Know the essential storyline of the Bible
2. Basic biblical doctrine (trinity, who is Jesus, the character of God, the Gospel, resurrection, etc.) – You can’t grow in an intellectual vacuum.
3. You must know your calling and Christian duty (what does God require of me as I do the Christian life?)
4. You must take godly examples in the Scripture (what can we learn from their lives?)
Colossians 3:16 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly”
3. Grow to love and worship God.
As you grow in your relationship with the Lord and your devotion to Him and for Him, He becomes more precious and glorious to you.
The gospel is grounds for unreserved worship. Just a sliver of comprehension of your union with Christ ought to create the explosion of joy that we call “worship. That worship launches you into a deeper dimension of God.
The importance of worship in a believer’s life begins with the foundational statement that we are created to worship. Our spirit longs to respond to our Creator. In fact, “worship is the natural instinct of the human heart.
John 4:24 “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
So as a young believer seeking to know the ways of God and to grow, you must learn the act of worship.
4. Live in obedience to Christ.
Desiring to grow in the Spirit comes with the price of implicit obedience to God, His word and will should always be your daily priority. Not according to your own agenda, but according to the Word of God and obedience to Him.
1 Peter 1:2 “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood”
Obedience is of utmost importance. Every step of growth in the Christian life is a step of obedience to Christ. Where there is no obedience there is no spiritual growth.
Obedience to God proves your love for Him (1 John 5:2-3), demonstrates our faithfulness to Him (1 John 2:3-6), glorifies Him in the world (1 Peter 2:12), and opens avenues of blessing for you (John 13:17).
Faith is necessary to please God (Hebrews 11:6), and if your faith is genuine and true, you will live a lifestyle characterized by righteousness, modeling the example set for us by Jesus Christ. You must obey His commands, not because you have to, but because you want to, because you love Him. You are enabled to obey because, once you believe in Christ and are saved, you are remade. You are not the same person you once were. As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
When you obey the Lord, you can live a life of joy, without shame, rooted deeply in the Lord and confident in your eternal hope. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17). Your obedience is actually part of your assurance that we truly know God (1 John 2:3).
When God’s children obey their Heavenly Father, He is glorified. Jesus told us that the plan is for others to “see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Of course, performing “good deeds” requires obedience to the One who calls us to good deeds. A Christian’s testimony of holiness is a strong witness that God is at work in the world.
5. Be filled with the Spirit.
If you love Jesus, it’s because the Spirit proclaimed “Come forth!” over your dead heart. You’re saved because you got preached at. And like sap going through the vines of a branch, so the Spirit is in the work of a Christian.
Ephesians 5:18 “And do not be drunk with wine, whereof it is excess, but be filled with the Spirit,”
Better translated: “Be filled by the Spirit.” There’s not a sense that you are being filled up with the Spirit as though the Spirit is poured out a pitcher into our empty glass. Rather, to be filled is to be controlled by, led by, energized by, and growing in the Spirit.
Galatians 5:16 “But I say, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
The Gospel’s fruit is proof the Spirit is still at work on the surface of the deep, that God is still declaring life into existence. You are to walk in reliance, power, direction, and enablement. You are totally dependent on the work of the Holy Spirit to mature, develop, and grow you in Christ-likeness.
The fruit of the Spirit: there’s no law against such things. Completely free. You can get as much peace, patience, kindness, etc. as you want. We can’t take or leave certain fruit of the Holy Spirit. It’s all or nothing. They’re called “the fruit” of the Sprit, not “the fruits.
6. Resist the world, the flesh, and the devil
The world = is the evil world system that dominates the world as you know it. The things of the world don’t seem expendable because you haven’t found Christ supremely valuable. You are to enjoy the world God has given you, to be sure. But you are to avoid the evil empire that is behind the realms of this world.
1 John 2:15; Love not the world neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
The flesh = Living by the flesh is like sweating to pay back a dude who owes you money. Each one of us has fallen humanness (see Romans 7) that you must put to death the deeds of the flesh. Must aggressively crucify your own flesh.
1 Corinthians 9:27” But I keep under my body and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means when I have preached to others I myself should be a castaway.”
The devil = If you give the devil cereal, he’s going to want a glass of milk. When the devil comes to accuse you, remind him you are in super-tight with the God who made him. You must put on the full armor of God (Eph. 6:10-18). You can never put our guard down.
1 Peter 5:9; Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
7. Be in close fellowship with other Christians.
The Puritans used to say: “The devil attacks the ship that sails only, not the one in the armada.”
The Christian life is very contagious. It encourages you to stand strong as they step forward.
1 Corinthians 15:33 “Do not be deceived: ‘evil communication corrupts good manner.'”
You should be in the world – but who has access to your ear and heart? Those people need to be strong Christians (Pro. 27:17). When you run next to someone running with Christ, you pick up your pace and get more intentional about all you do for God’s glory and His kingdom.
Spurgeon said:
Satan attaches more importance to godly fellowship than we do. Since union is strength, he does his best to separate.
8. Be very prayerful
The purpose of prayer is not necessarily to tell God how you want Him to do things. Rather, it’s to better understand Him and His ways, bringing yourself into alignment with His will. As C.S. Lewis is often attributed as saying, prayer “doesn’t change God. It changes me.”
“But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed” (Luke 5:16).
Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights before He began His ministry on the earth. As He did this, He communed with His Father in Heaven in prayer. Likewise, if you pray and fast, you can feel closer to God and better understand the things He wants you to do.
If Jesus needed focused prayer in solitude, how much more do you?!
You must know what is like to humble yourself before the throne of grace. To confess your sins and seek his face. You are transformed into his image. You will learn dependence, trust, and give him all your concerns.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 “pray without ceasing,”
Ephesians 6:18 “praying always in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.”
9. Have a place of Service and Share the Gospel (evangelize).
One of the marks of someone who desires to grow in the Lord is that he also desires to serve Christ’s church.
There must be an intake and outflow. This might be a formal place in ministry. But often it is just doing normal life with those in your church.
When you are simply taking in (like taking food in with no exercise), you must also exercise your spiritual muscles and work in the Lord’s vineyard. It doesn’t matter where you are, which ministries you serve or support, or what church we’re a member of—it’s all about God’s kingdom, not your own.
1 Peter 4:10 “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace”.
10. You grow the most in your present trials and temptation
Don’t hate what God has destined you for (1 Thess. 3:3). Our greatest lessons are most often learned in the school of affliction. These are not optional electives, but required classes.
“You received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit.” — 1 Thessalonians 1:6
You may need to pray today, “Lord, I am not where I want to be.” It is okay to pray that – better to be honest before Christ than anything else.
If you find yourself in some difficult or constraining circumstances that are a source of struggle for you, consider yourself in a trial; it is therefore not random (it was allowed by God) and can work for good in your spiritual growth. Most trials seem on the surface to present themselves to us as obstacles that prevent us from living a godly life. Trials are not actually obstacles (though they often feel that way), but are the fuel for getting to our goals. Often, as Christians, when we pray for greater holiness, we find the world caving in around us. Our reactions can make us feel more ungodly than ever.
It is critical to see that, while these trials might provide momentary setbacks to our visible progress in the faith, they are ultimately providing the fuel we need to get to our destination. They build into our lives passion, perseverance, and deeper character change that go far beyond the surface behavior change we were trying to manifest in our lives. Often God answers our prayer for greater holiness, not by providing better circumstances that help us perform better, but by providing trials.
11. Repeated Repentance and Self Realization
It is important to realize when your thoughts or actions are getting in the way of your ability to surrender and grow spiritually. The Holy Spirit reveals your mistakes to you, but you must choose to acknowledge them and change.
Repeated repentance is vital to spiritual maturity. We are all imperfect people and through repentance, humility grows as does dependence on God.
One’s sincere pursuit and faithful embrace of repentance lead to the greatest blessing of all: forgiveness! Blessed is the man whose transgressions are “forgiven” (Psalms 32:1).
David’s sin is like an oppressive weight from which he longs to be relieved. Forgiveness lifts the burden from his shoulders. Blessed is he whose sin is “covered” (32:1). It’s as if David says, “Oh, dear Father, what joy to know that if I will ‘uncover’ (32:5) my sin and not hide it. David doesn’t mean to suggest that his sin is merely concealed from view but somehow still present to condemn and defeat him. The point is that God sees it no more. He has covered it from all views. Finally, blessed is that man or woman, young or old, whose sin the Lord does not “impute” or “count” against them (32:2). No record is kept. God isn’t a spiritual scorekeeper to those who seek his pardoning favor.
Our reluctance to repent can often result in divine discipline. As David reflected on his sin and the season during which he kept silent, he portrays the impact of his transgression in physical terms:
For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night, your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer (Psalms32:3).
Wrapping it Up:
As part of the discussion on keys to spiritual growth, it is helpful to read and study stories about spiritual growth in the Bible. These stories took place in a time and place very different from today, but with many of the same personal issues.
It is amazing to me that most bible characters faced struggles and obstacles to spiritual growth, but were still used to make an impact on the world. I trust as you follow through with these biblical principles, you will grow Spiritually and be stronger than you desire.