Spiritual Growth is God’s process to restore to you everything Satan, sin, and self have stolen from you.
2nd. God has amazing plans for your life! You don’t want to miss the adventures He has planned for you.
And 3rd. This life is preparation for heaven. Jesus will reward you for what you do for God after you are born again.
When I was born again, I wanted to run after God. But I didn’t know what to do. I spent years trying to do all the things people told me I should. And I kept tripping over things from my alcoholic past that hurt me – ungodly beliefs, sin habits, emotional wounds, etc. I muddled along. Two steps forward, one step back. I finally realized that God has priorities. Some things are more important than others. When I did the most important things first, everything else began to fall in place.
These are the 7 keys to spiritual growth I found most helpful in my Christian journey and while helping others with their journey as a homegroup leader, intercessor, teacher, Christian life coach, and friend. I pray these 7 keys will accelerate your spiritual growth.
1st Key. Passion - It is our daily desire and pursuit of God that empowers our spiritual growth.
2nd Key. Perspective – VISION - You need vision to see and think like Jesus. Jesus' vision came from knowing His Identity and His Purpose. Yours will too.
3rd Key. Process – The Biblical name for Spiritual Growth is Transformation. You aren’t transformed by trying harder. It is a supernatural process completed by the Holy Spirit, who forms Jesus’ supernatural character in you as you renew your mind with God’s word and obey God. Romans 12:2 says: “Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.”
4th Key. Produce – Spiritual fruit. If we are truly growing spiritually, there must be outward evidence of change. As God changes who we are, our behavior naturally reflects that change. Matthew 7:17, 20 NLT
Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.
5th Key. Pain to Overcome – Recognize that your old self was broken. And unless healed, much of that brokenness can come into your new life. We must deal with old sin habits, ungodly beliefs, and emotional and psychological wounds that keep us from connecting our hearts to people and to God.
6th Key. People – We have brokenness. People at church have brokenness. It would be easy to leave church and go your own way. God warns you not to. (Hebrews 10:25) There are people at church that have what you need (Ephesians 4:16). And God says in learning to love others His love for us is made complete in us. (1 John 4:12) We need other Christians and they need us.
7th Key. Plan -Do you have goals for spiritual growth? Most Christians don’t. What is your spiritual condition right now? How can you measure that? Where are you going? And what is the next step?
I will be creating videos dealing with each of the 7 keys.
1st Key to Spiritual Growth: Passion
Jesus was asked, “Which is the greatest of the commands?”
Jesus answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NIV
Passionate Love and Obedience is our proper response to God’s love.
1 John 4:10-12 NIV
1 John 4:19 KJV
We love him, because he first loved us.
2 Corinthians 5:14-15 NLT
Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.
Your Life Belongs to God
Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20.
Lay Down Your Life for Your Friends
John 15:12-13 NIV
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
God asks us to do that. He asks us to lay down our lives for our families, our friends, our neighbors, and others.
Unlike Jesus, our sacrifice is not giving up our lives all at once. Our sacrifice is to live for God one moment at a time. God calls us to be “living sacrifices.”
Romans 12:1 ERV
So I beg you, brothers and sisters, because of the great mercy God has shown us, offer your lives as a living sacrifice to him…
In Revelation, Jesus told the Laodicean church, which had lost it’s passion:
“… because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”
Revelation 3:15-16 NIV
After this stinging rebuke, Jesus tells them to open their hearts to Him and He will come to them in love:
Revelation 3: 19-20 NIV
Your Christian life will rise to the level of your genuine, passionate love for God.
Activation: If you want to run after God with all your heart, pray this prayer with me.