What’s Stopping Me From Growing?

“Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. – Galatians 6:7–8.

Have you wondered why you’re not growing spiritually as much as you would like. If you sat down and listed the reasons, you would probably come up with the usual suspects. We blame it on Satan, our busy lives, our careers, children, spouse and even the church we attend. I’m not saying those things aren’t an issue, or that they are not contributing to our lack of growth. But, are they the real reason? To me the real reason is the noise or distractions in our lives. Noise and distractions in our lives can diminish our spiritual growth.

We all have the best intentions. We are excited about God, but because we have become a product of our digital world, we have a diminished ability to think deeply about Him, to truly know Him as He is, and to grow more like Him. It is harder and harder to stop long enough to read. We struggle with the attention needed to study. And we have a tough time finding time for God. Where prayer used to be the first activity of the day, we now begin our daily routine by checking e-mail. Where we used to look through the Bible daily for inspiration and guidance, that time now competes with our voice mail, text messages, e-mails, and the ever-present lure of the Internet. So the distractions are limiting the things that will contribute to our growth.

If you don’t believe me, run a small scale case study on yourself to see how many time you are distracted a day. My guess is you will get so distracted you won’t be able to get the case study done.

Paul prayed for the young church in Colossae: “So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.” (Colossians 1: 9-10) This would require them to say no to whatever distracted them from seeking Christ above all else.

Our goal is the same, to not be distracted by anything that pulls us away from what’s supremely important—knowing Christ. God calls us to a life where distractions fade and His voice becomes the One we listen to first and foremost.

Discussion Questions:

What kind of noise do you have in your life? Do you surround yourself with noise intentionally or unintentionally?
Do you wish God’s voice would be louder in your life? Does all the noise in our life make it hard to hear from God?
Does my schedule, my time, my life look like that of a person who wants to spiritually grow?
What are some things in your daily life you could change to eliminate some of the noise?