As a seed grows when it’s planted and
watered, followers of Christ grow spiritually when they are planted in good
soil and watered. In the Bible, Jesus uses a parable of a farmer planting seeds.
Some seeds fell on the path, some on rockly places, some on thorns, and some on
good soil (Matthew 13:3-8), but only the seeds that fall on good soil grew into
healthy plants. Jesus explains the meaning of the story this way: The one who
hears the Word of God and understands it is the one who grows in their faith (Matthew
13:23).
What Is Spiritual Growth?
Spiritual growth is the journey of
growing in faith to know more about God and become the person that He created us
to be. To grow spiritually, we need to learn the Truth from God’s word,
experience Grace which reminds us that we make mistakes as we learn and need
God’s patient forgiveness, and Time because maturity is a process and a
journey.
Keys to spiritual growth
There are certain actions that a
Christian need to take consistently to be able to grow spiritually. Here are
the 6 keys to help the disciples of Jesus in gaining spiritual maturity throughout
their salvation journey.
Praying every day
Praying every day teaches us to
humble ourselves before the throne of grace. To confess our sins and seek God’s
face and be transformed in Jesus’ image. When we pray every day, we learn
dependence, trust, and sharing all our concerns with Jesus. 1 Thessalonians
5:17 reminds us that “we must pray continually”, and Philippians 4:16
encourages us to not be anxious about anything, but to present all our requests
to God in prayer, intercession and thanksgiving.
Meditating on the Word of God every
day
There must be a steady, constant
intake of the Word of God. The more we put it into practice into our lives
is the extent we will grow as Christians. Not immersing into the Word of
God is not an ability issue or an aptitude issue but an obedience issue. We
will never advance beyond our steady diet of God’s Word; that’s why we ned to
meditate on the word of God every day.
In Joshua 1:8, God commanded us ‘to meditate
His word day and night’. He promised us that if we do it, we shall prosper and
achieve good success in whatever we undertake including spiritual growth.
Obeying God Always
Obedience is of utmost
importance. Every step of growth in the Christian life is a step of
obedience to God. Where there is no obedience there is no spiritual
growth. Living in obedience implies accepting not to walk according to our own
agenda, but according to the Word of God and obedience to Him. Obeying God is
also a testimony that we love Him. As stated in John 14:21 ‘he who has His
commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Him’.
Testifying of Christ through our
lifestyle and our words.
In our everyday life, we must be
mindful of our position of Christ’s ambassadors. It requires us to continually long
for changing our conduct to embody a Christ-like character. This will result in
a true transformation and bearing of much fruit which glorifies our Father in
heaven as depicted in the passage of John 15:8.
Trusting in God
The word of God is full of
testimonies that God cares about us. Romans 8:32 says that ‘He who did not
spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not
also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?’ This scripture clears out
all doubt and invites us to trust and wait for God’s help in all the
circumstances in our lives. Another scripture in 1 Peter 5:7 says: ‘cast all
your anxiety on Him because He cares for you’.
Let the Holy Spirit direct and
empower our daily lives and testimonies
The Gospel’s fruit is proof the Holy Spirit
is at work in us, that God is declaring life into existence in us. We are to
walk in the reliance, power, direction, and enablement of the Spirit of God. We
are totally dependent on the work of the Holy Spirit to mature, develop, and
grow us in Christlikeness. Galatians 5:16 declares ‘But I say, walk by the
Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh’.
It’s absolutely clear that the Word
of God has a lot to say about what is required of us to grow spiritually. It’s
also important to note that God’s desire is to see us all His children live to
attain an excellent level of spiritual maturity that enables them to be
productive and effective in serving Him. The absolute truth we are reminded of
as children of God in Philippians 1:6 is ‘He who began a good work in you will
carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus’.
