To Be Still and Know...Why Spiritual Growth is Vital
"Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment." 1 Peter 2:4
I could sum up this entire post with that one verse! The part of the verse that is underlined is why we need to grow spiritually. When we accept Jesus as our Savior we are like newborn babies spiritually. We know very little about the Lord and His Word when we first accept Him and we are babies spiritually. Just like with a baby has to learn everything over time we have to do the same thing in our walk with the Lord. If a baby doesn't learn how to walk or talk or eat solid food, then doctors get involved and try to figure out what the problem is, because a healthy baby without any issues does these things naturally over time...with growth. Our growth, or lack thereof, in our walk with the Lord is a direct indicator of how healthy we are spiritually. If it's been some time since you accepted Christ but haven't really learned anything more, or seen change in your life from your old ways then that's an indication you are still a baby spiritually and haven't moved on from milk to solid food. We should crave the "full experience of salvation". There is so much richness and depth to this Christian life. It's so much more than just securing your eternal place in Heaven. It's learning how to best navigate this earthly life. It's discovering your true God given purposes here on earth. It's learning how we were supposed to live life, not how the world tells us we should. It's growing in courage and boldness. It's growing in trusting the Lord to meet all your needs, all the time, even when impossible situations arise. It's learning how to recognize all forms of temptation and distraction that the Devil throws at us every day and how to resist it with God's help and strength. It's learning how to build others up in the Lord. It's learning how to truly let go and let God. It's taking what you learn and putting it into action. This is spiritual growth. This is going from a baby in Christ to maturity.
"You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God's word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn't know how to do what is right." Hebrews 5:12-13
Now one thing to remember is that everyone is at different levels spiritually. Just like we are all different ages and as babies and children developed at different rates. There is nothing wrong with that. It doesn't matter if a baby walks at 9 months or at 18 months, just so long as it walks. It will take some people longer to grow spiritually, for a wide variety of reasons, but just so long as you are making progress, you are growing! Maybe that means choosing to set aside a certain amount of time every day to read God's Word. Maybe you have already been diligent to reading God's Word daily, now it's time to start memorizing parts of it perhaps, or choosing an area of your spiritual life that you know needs growth and working on that with God's help. (Stop cussing, not watching certain programs, no longer going out to bars and getting drunk. Praying more purposefully. Forgiving someone who has hurt you. Not looking out for ways to get even. Working on your patience. Working on your role as wife. Being a more attentive, patient mom. Praying for your enemies. Giving sacrificially. Taking on a ministry role within your church or community. Etc...) There are so many areas of life we can grow in and apply God's Word to. We will never achieve perfection this side of Heaven so we all need to be busy working on these areas of our lives in which God is convicting us of change and growth.
Here is a beautiful passage from God's Word about how we should be growing spiritually. Think of it as a developmental chart, like those ones you see in your child's pediatricians office. "In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God's promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge and knowledge with self control, and self control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness and godliness with brotherly affection and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 1:5-8
Let's break this down in smaller bite sized chunks. The first thing we do spiritually is accept the Lord which is having faith in Him. Then it says that we are to supplement to that faith, taking our walk with the Lord further, growing spiritually. First we need to supplement moral excellence to that faith. This can be thought of letting go of the "old person" you were before Christ and letting go of any sinful behaviors you were involved in. Attend church regularly, find a Bible study that you enjoy that teaches in ways you can easily understand and apply to your life. This will help you discover what all is actually sinful in God's eyes and therefore help you develop stronger God and faith based morals. After you have grown in this area of life you will better be able to grow in the next area mentioned, knowledge. Knowledge is knowing the facts. The more you attend Bible studies and read God's Word daily and attend a Bible teaching church you will gain understanding of God's Word and be able to then apply it better to your daily life. You may even get to the point where you want to teach and share with others all you are learning, this is the natural way of spiritual growth! You become so excited over all God's teaching you and ways you are growing you can't help but share it with others, this is awesome and this is the way it's supposed to be! Self Control becomes easier to apply once you have knowledge of God's Word because you have verses to turn to that will help you and give you strength in times of need. You learn that a gentle and quiet spirit is what pleases the Lord. You will learn that we are called to forgive and genuinely love others. Patience is a virtue we are better able to put into practice once we have learned self control, because patience comes from being able to control ourselves and not getting upset easily. Once we are learning from God's Word and putting what we learn into practice we understand what pleases the Lord and what being Christlike or godly looks like. This is how we put godliness into practice, but trying to pattern our lives after Him, and we can only do that if we know what His Words says to us and have let go of our old ways. Then comes brotherly love, or love for other Christians, our brothers and sisters in Christ. God teaches us through His Word what true authentic love looks like. We then learn how to really love people and that love then extends to a genuine love for everyone around us, Christian or not. Do you see how vital it is to grow spiritually? Don't settle with remaining a baby or toddler in Christ. Be determined to grow strong and mature in the Lord! It is then that you will experience the fullness and depth that this beautiful Christian life has to offer!
I leave you with some verses from Ephesians 4:14,15 &21-24.
"Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won't be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church...Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God- truly righteous and holy."
"You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God's word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn't know how to do what is right." Hebrews 5:12-13
Now one thing to remember is that everyone is at different levels spiritually. Just like we are all different ages and as babies and children developed at different rates. There is nothing wrong with that. It doesn't matter if a baby walks at 9 months or at 18 months, just so long as it walks. It will take some people longer to grow spiritually, for a wide variety of reasons, but just so long as you are making progress, you are growing! Maybe that means choosing to set aside a certain amount of time every day to read God's Word. Maybe you have already been diligent to reading God's Word daily, now it's time to start memorizing parts of it perhaps, or choosing an area of your spiritual life that you know needs growth and working on that with God's help. (Stop cussing, not watching certain programs, no longer going out to bars and getting drunk. Praying more purposefully. Forgiving someone who has hurt you. Not looking out for ways to get even. Working on your patience. Working on your role as wife. Being a more attentive, patient mom. Praying for your enemies. Giving sacrificially. Taking on a ministry role within your church or community. Etc...) There are so many areas of life we can grow in and apply God's Word to. We will never achieve perfection this side of Heaven so we all need to be busy working on these areas of our lives in which God is convicting us of change and growth.
Here is a beautiful passage from God's Word about how we should be growing spiritually. Think of it as a developmental chart, like those ones you see in your child's pediatricians office. "In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God's promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge and knowledge with self control, and self control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness and godliness with brotherly affection and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 1:5-8
Let's break this down in smaller bite sized chunks. The first thing we do spiritually is accept the Lord which is having faith in Him. Then it says that we are to supplement to that faith, taking our walk with the Lord further, growing spiritually. First we need to supplement moral excellence to that faith. This can be thought of letting go of the "old person" you were before Christ and letting go of any sinful behaviors you were involved in. Attend church regularly, find a Bible study that you enjoy that teaches in ways you can easily understand and apply to your life. This will help you discover what all is actually sinful in God's eyes and therefore help you develop stronger God and faith based morals. After you have grown in this area of life you will better be able to grow in the next area mentioned, knowledge. Knowledge is knowing the facts. The more you attend Bible studies and read God's Word daily and attend a Bible teaching church you will gain understanding of God's Word and be able to then apply it better to your daily life. You may even get to the point where you want to teach and share with others all you are learning, this is the natural way of spiritual growth! You become so excited over all God's teaching you and ways you are growing you can't help but share it with others, this is awesome and this is the way it's supposed to be! Self Control becomes easier to apply once you have knowledge of God's Word because you have verses to turn to that will help you and give you strength in times of need. You learn that a gentle and quiet spirit is what pleases the Lord. You will learn that we are called to forgive and genuinely love others. Patience is a virtue we are better able to put into practice once we have learned self control, because patience comes from being able to control ourselves and not getting upset easily. Once we are learning from God's Word and putting what we learn into practice we understand what pleases the Lord and what being Christlike or godly looks like. This is how we put godliness into practice, but trying to pattern our lives after Him, and we can only do that if we know what His Words says to us and have let go of our old ways. Then comes brotherly love, or love for other Christians, our brothers and sisters in Christ. God teaches us through His Word what true authentic love looks like. We then learn how to really love people and that love then extends to a genuine love for everyone around us, Christian or not. Do you see how vital it is to grow spiritually? Don't settle with remaining a baby or toddler in Christ. Be determined to grow strong and mature in the Lord! It is then that you will experience the fullness and depth that this beautiful Christian life has to offer!
I leave you with some verses from Ephesians 4:14,15 &21-24.
"Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won't be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church...Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God- truly righteous and holy."
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