How To Cultivate Your Spiritual Growth

All living things grow. For us, that growth is not only physical, but mental, emotional, and spiritual as well. Spiritual growth and maturity are vital for living a Christian life, and they are the fruit of a life lived well in Jesus. Just as physical and emotional growth allows us to handle the shocks of life’s various ups and downs, spiritual growth helps us face life’s challenges with confidence and hope in God.

Spiritual growth doesn’t come easily, nor is it automatic. On the contrary, our past habits, the culture we inhabit, and our old nature work against us when we desire to progress spiritually. Since spiritual growth makes us look more and more like Jesus, we can also be sure to face opposition from the Accuser.

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. – 1 Peter 5:8-9, NIV

What is spiritual growth?

At its core, spiritual growth is about knowing God more intimately, having deeper and more realistic knowledge about ourselves, and walking with growing consistency in the new life of the Spirit. The apostle Peter writes about this in his second letter in these words:

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.

For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. – 2 Peter 1:3-9, NIV

God has given His people His Spirit and promises to sustain them in a world that is set against God and His people. God has given us everything that we need to live a life that’s pleasing to Him, and part of spiritual growth is recognizing what God has already given us and making use of it. For Peter, growth means adding amazing qualities such as knowledge and self-control to our faith in Jesus so that we may more and more resemble Jesus and may be effective in our lives.

Knowing God is an ongoing reality because there’s always more to know, more facets to discover and explore. Our character grows in depth and in the qualities we possess over time so that we’re not the same next year as we are now.

The longer you walk with God, the more you become aware of yourself and your weaknesses. That makes you turn back to God as you remind yourself of the gospel of salvation.

The last thing is that as Peter says, “make every effort.” This means that all this growth doesn’t happen on its own. Our salvation is given freely to us through Jesus’ work on the cross, but that doesn’t mean there’s no work involved in making use of what Christ has given us.

Markers of spiritual growth.

In the verses above, Peter outlined in large part the qualities that one should strive to add to one’s life while living a godly life. Some of the markers of spiritual growth include the following:

Humility.

“The essence of gospel-humility is not thinking more of myself or thinking less of myself, it is thinking of myself less.” (Tim Keller) Are you focused on Jesus and on serving others? (Philippians 2:3-21).

Deeper awareness of your sinfulness.

It’s surprising, but the people who walk closely with God are more aware of their sinfulness. Good examples of this are Daniel (Daniel 9) and Paul, who calls himself the worst of sinners (1 Timothy 1:12-16).

This is not self-hatred, but a growing awareness of God’s holiness and our sinfulness. The longer you walk with God, the more you develop a sober judgment about yourself and stop believing your hype and self-deceptions about yourself.

Delighting in God, His truth, and His Word.

Psalm 119 demonstrates the beauty of God’s Word. The delight in God’s wisdom, power, purity, and love is palpable. If you find yourself relishing time with God in prayer and the Bible, that’s a mark of growth.

Overcoming your areas of weakness.

Perhaps you struggle with gossip, lying, sexual promiscuity, people-pleasing, or other weaknesses. When you find yourself resisting temptation for longer, being quicker to repent, seeing sin coming and heading it off, that’s a sign of growth.

Having the same mind as Christ toward your enemies.

If you find yourself more able to extend compassion and forgiveness toward others instead of being judgmental and critical, that’s a mark of growth. Jesus loved His enemies enough to die for them. The more we find that mind and heart taking root in ourselves as we keep in step with the Spirit, the more we are growing and maturing to look more like Jesus.

Handling setbacks and suffering with maturity.

Trusting God when things don’t go according to plan and being able to rejoice in the outcome of your seasons of struggle is also a sign of growth (James 1:2-5).

This doesn’t mean you smile effortlessly; after all, the language of lament is part of the vocabulary of faith. Rather, it means that even as you struggle, you continue looking to God. The Psalms of lament and the book of Job show us what this faithful grumbling and perseverance under suffering looks like.

Issues that can hinder spiritual growth.

Spiritual growth can be hindered by a variety of things. A few examples include:

Attitude toward sin.

If one doesn’t take sin seriously, that can hinder growth. The Biblical writers go so far as to say we must put to death everything to do with sin (Romans 8:13; Galatians 5:16-26), and in the Sermon on The Mount, Jesus talks about gouging out your eye and cutting off your hand than to sin (Matthew 5:27-30). The point is that you should take sin seriously and deal with it swiftly rather than coddle it.

One’s mindset toward growth.

Growth is uncomfortable and takes effort, and those two things can make it easier to stay put and stagnate. If you think growth is going to be automatic and easy, you’ll stumble out the gate and struggle to keep moving forward. It’s hard to go against your old habits or to say no to desires you’ve indulged in for years.

Going against the flow, whether that’s the flow of your culture, family, friends, or yourself, is difficult. The Christian life is one of great joy and freedom but resisting temptation and putting old habits to death is part of maturing in your faith.

Cultivating spiritual growth in your life.

One of the images consistently used to describe the Christian life is a journey. We walk with Jesus on this new path by keeping in step with the Holy Spirit. Cultivating spiritual growth comes down to one thing with many implications – walking in a manner worthy of the calling we’ve received in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:1).

Practicing the Christian life and keeping in step with the Spirit requires us to implement some habits that will allow our lives to be fertile ground for the Spirit to work. This enables Him to produce the fruit of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

Some of these things that can help include reading God’s word consistently, prayer, practicing generosity and hospitality, confessing and repenting of sin, sharing your faith with others, meeting regularly with God’s people in fellowship, and preaching the gospel to yourself all the time. Your growth might not take a linear path, but God sees your perseverance and faithfulness.

As you become more grounded in who you are in Christ your confidence, emotional resilience, healthy boundaries, sense of purpose, and joy grow. Sometimes you just don’t know where to begin, or you may have some hang-ups you need to work through to begin or continue your journey toward maturity. You can speak with a life coach or a Christian counselor to help you create and set a plan in motion to promote your spiritual growth.

The counselors in our office are ready to help you grow spiritually. Reach out today.