Spiritual growth is the missing key

As Christians, we are called to run our race with diligence, like we’re going after a prize.

It’s been my experience, however, that many people are in the race, but few are actually trying to achieve the prize. A lot of people’s Christian race turned into a leisurely stroll somewhere along the way. Because of this, many people have quit attending church, they have no excitement about the things of God and they’ve become bitter toward any truths found in the Bible.

I looked through the scriptures, I prayed and asked God and I got the answer. The New Testament is the key to unlocking this mystery. It wasn’t a particular verse, but rather an overview of the sections of the New Testament that revealed what I searched for.

When you open your Bible to the New Testament, you’ll notice three distinct categories of books. First, there are the four Gospels, then the book of Acts and then the letters that were written to the church. Each of these categories show us a piece of God’s heart toward us. In the Gospels, we find out that Jesus Christ came to save us from our sins. Since Jesus himself said he came to seek and to save the lost, our first response as Christians is also to seek and save the lost.

In the book of Acts, we see that 10 days after Jesus ascended into heaven, the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out on the believers. So, we see that Jesus’ second desire after we are saved is to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.

The third category you find when you look at the books of Romans through Revelation is the idea of spiritual growth. That’s the answer. People are being saved and filled with the Holy Spirit, but they are not growing spiritually.

I had to do a report once on puberty and the changes that a teenager goes through before reaching adulthood. It was horrible to be a teenager and also have to write about voice changes, zits and the like. But I remember one interesting fact from the study: as soon as a person reaches adulthood, his or her body starts decaying.

I realized that if something is not growing, it’s dying. If a tree is no longer sprouting leaves or growing limbs, it’s either dying or is dead. In the biological world, there isn’t really a state of limbo. On the outside, you could say something is just staying level and on an even keel, but the truth is there’s not really an in-between.

In our walk with the Lord, we are either moving toward God or away from him; there’s not much in-between. That’s why we are called to grow spiritually.

2 Timothy 2:15 says, “Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.”

Primarily, our spiritual growth will come from a study of the Bible, and it’s possible to study the Bible without knowing a lick of Greek or Hebrew. When you study the Bible, look for all the scriptures that talk about a specific subject or study a specific person. It’s also important to read passages more than once. The heart of study is asking yourself, how does this apply to me?

You will also grow spiritually when you do what the Bible says. Growth will never come if you don’t put into practice what you’ve already learned. I took piano lessons for eight years and my teacher never gave me new music or harder music until I had practiced and learned what she already had given me. The same is true of spiritual growth as a Christian.

Another way to grow, and a necessary addition to the first two, is to go to church — not as a pew-warmer, but as a volunteer. The Bible says Jesus gave gifts to the church to equip Christians and to build the church, which is the body of Christ. The gifts He was referring to are pastors, teachers, missionaries (or apostles), prophets and evangelists. If you don’t go to church, you will never get to enjoy the gifts God gave the church.

To be continued …

Jesse Miller is Youth Pastor at Family Christian Center in Palmer and can be reached at silverhonda84@hotmail.com.