How Can I Grow Spiritually?

    

        

        How can I grow spiritually? This question is one that many Christians, new and old, ask themselves and others. It is a good question and one that corresponds with the right desires. Jesus was a perfect example of this because the Holy Spirit explains, “And Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Luke 2:52). We understand that as Jesus grew from adolescence to adulthood His wisdom and stature would surely grow. I want to focus our attention to the fact that He grew in favor with God and men. When we grow in Christ and mature from the basics of our faith, we will certainly receive the favor of God. So, what are some basics of growing spiritually?

Love God and Others

            The New Testament Christian must remember their first love, Christ! This was the thing lacking in the Ephesus church of Christ as recorded in Revelation 2. Our first-century brethren would not accept false apostles, but evidently, they forgot why. Love of God is the first motivator for each and everything that we do as the body of Christ. To grow spiritually we must grow in love which requires action on each of our parts. Jesus showed us this example, and we are reminded of this.

Hereby know we love, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath the world's goods, and beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth up his compassion from him, how doth the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither with the tongue; but in deed and truth. 

1 John 3:16-18

Jesus had to work the ultimate work of love, by dying for us. So, in turn, we must be willing to lay down our lives for the brethren. We look after their well-being, looking for ways to truly love. Our love must not be lip service, but with our actions and always in truth.

Remember how Christ showed His love to the man who was a rich young ruler. He made time for him, He asked him to look at himself, and then He revealed the truth that that young man would not inherit eternal life if he would not give up the thing that made him lacking. If we are lacking in love for God, our brethren, and the lost, our growth in the Lord will be stifled.

Pray to God

            Our God and Father loves His people and wants to hear from them. If we want to grow spiritually, we cannot neglect the blessing of prayer. We can be assured that God hears and answers prayers. Peter added, “For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, And his ears unto their supplication: But the face of the Lord is upon them that do evil” (1 Pet. 3:12). He is listening, and as Christians, we are to pray without ceasing (cf. 1 Thess. 5:17; Luke 18:1). Who do we pray for? We pray for our brethren; we pray for the lost.

            How is your prayer life? Where does it need to be? Should you be praying more? I would surmise that even the most faithful Christians would not say they should pray less. We need to take advantage of our line of communication with our Heavenly Father. To grow in the Lord, we must grow in prayer.

Go and Sin No More

            Sin will stifle our growth in things of a spiritual nature. What we must do is stop sinning. Sounds easy, right? Is growth easy, generally speaking? If you want to grow in love, you love like Christ. If you want to grow in prayer, pray like Christ. If you want to not sin so that you can grow in holiness, look to the sinful Son of God.

            Another way that we grow in the Lord is that when we have sin we make it a point to repent and move on. Think about the example of Peter. He sinned, he denied the Lord. He sinned, he told the Lord not to talk like He was going to be crucified. He repented, and he moved on. He went on to faithfully serve as the man God made him to be.

Grow in Fellowship with the Brethren

            Who you hang with will shape who you are. If you want to grow in the Lord, it is imperative that your closest relationships are with the brethren. The Bible warns of the result of the opposite. “Be not deceived: Evil companionships corrupt good morals” (1 Cor. 15:33). When we attach ourselves to brethren, we are attaching ourselves to the people with the same purpose. This does not mean that we have no interactions with the lost; we must interact with the lost, they need to be saved. However, we do not enter into close partnerships with the lost that we do with the world. Why? Because we would become unequally yoked, Paul explains,

Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers: for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? or what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what portion hath a believer with an unbeliever?

2 Cor. 6:14-15

            If you were ever on a team you knew that most, if not all the members of that team, had the same purpose, the same goal in mind. A team is judged by how well they accomplish the goal. If you are partnered with an individual or organization that does not have the same goal of life eternal, can you work effectively toward growing in the Lord? There are no moral victories in sporting events or business, nor are there in New Testament Christianity. We need to help each other attain the goal that we are all working toward — faithful living, which culminates in life eternal. We have an obligation to each other. How can I help the work of the church? How can I help encourage my brother or sister? How can I be part of the work and not part of the problem? These are the things that we must ask ourselves.

            I believe wholeheartedly that every Christian wants to grow in the Lord. I also am aware that the hindrances that prevent that growth can be subverted with the love of God, prayer, refusing to be entangled in sin, and the proper fellowship that we enjoy with each other.

Grace and Peace,

R.D. Beavers