Spiritual Growth

“So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. 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, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.” – 1 Peter 2:1-3.   

It’s important to grow. Have you thought about growth, not physical growth but spiritual growth? There is a lot of talk today about church growth, building bigger and bigger churches with more and more people. But even more important than church growth is individual growth, personal, and spiritual growth.  

The apostle Peter raised the issue in 1 Peter 2. The reason to grow is that we have been commanded to grow. The responsibility to grow is incumbent on each believer. The rate of growth is never as fast as we would like it to be. The bottom line is it takes a lifetime to grow, and you will experience both joy and pain in that lifetime.

Growth is what we do with the knowledge we acquire over that lifetime. Growth is where we take that knowledge and apply it to our everyday lives. If we would grow, we must want to grow. Psalm 42:1 says, “As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God.” How badly do you want to know Him better, to grow closer to Him? That’s a challenge for us today because there are so many things in our lives that cry out for attention and take our energy and our passions. Being a Christian is not dependent upon, nor is it summed up by simply sitting in a pew and listening to the preacher. The Christian faith is living dynamically. It’s a yearning for God, to know God, to be excited about God.  

When God delivered the Israelites out of Egypt, He didn’t take the shortcut to the promised land. He took a circuitous, scenic route Why? They weren’t ready. The goal of going after a God-sized dream isn’t simply accomplishing it. It’s who you become in the process. As you work on growing spiritually, do not miss the lesson, work on your character and make changes you need to make. God is preparing you for something bigger, something better.  

Scripture is the one and only blueprint on how to grow. It’s never too late to learn. And especially that’s true in terms of the Christian faith and growing in the Lord. The challenge to all of us is to look at 2022 as a time to grow. A time to be involved. A great time to be living and serving the Lord and doing community with other believers.   

Discussion Questions:

1. Are you content with your spiritual growth? Where would you like it to be? 
2. What needs to change to get it where you want it to be?