How to Grow Up in Your Faith

Have you been at the same place spiritually for years? When it comes to your faith, if you haven’t moved in a while, you are missing out!

When something is alive, it grows. We were meant to grow in health and maturity in all aspects of life- physically, emotionally, intellectually, socially, occupationally, and spiritually. While spiritual growth may seem the least tangible, it is actually the area in which it is most important that we flourish, according to the One who made us.

So, what does the process of spiritual growth look like? I’m so glad you asked… because I drew us a map!

4 Steps on the Spiritual Journey

1. We are born, physically. (You’ve already got this one taken care of. Thanks, Mom!)
   
2. We can- and Jesus says we must- be born of the Spirit. When we made the choice to turn from God and give ourselves to sin, something in us died. In order to come to life again, we need to embrace what Jesus did for us on the cross. This, God says, is the only way to revive our hearts. Not everyone makes it to this point on the spiritual journey because it requires something challenging: childlike faith and a humble recognition of our need.
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   “Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” -John‬ ‭3:5-6‬
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   “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” John 5:24
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3. If we choose to take hold of the new life Christ freely offers, we are “born again” (come to life spiritually) and are now a new creation. We look the same and will still encounter struggles and temptations, but we’ve been redeemed and renewed and have begun the process of sanctification and regeneration- moving towards who God intended for us to be. (This is so much better than a secular quest of self-improvement because it’s generated by supernatural power. It’s the only method of growth that can truly change our hearts, which is why it’s the only method that can be truly pleasing to God.) And so we start out in spiritual infancy, a pure and joyful season of growing in understanding of elementary truths of God’s word and his ways. There is no shame in being a spiritual beginner, but we aren’t meant to stay an infant forever.
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   “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.” -‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭2:2-3‬
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4. Those who now belong to Christ are meant to undergo a lifelong process of spiritual maturation. This means that we grow up in our faith, grasping the basics and progressing to meatier and more nuanced lessons. As we become seasoned believers whose minds and hearts are focused on the things of God, we move beyond a worldly focus and live for eternal things. Our sensitivity to the Spirit of God and our discernment of what is right becomes more fine-tuned because we’ve trained ourselves through constant immersion in God’s Word, familiarity with the sound of his voice, and years of experience putting our faith into practice. Mature followers of Jesus will still maintain a childlike humility and dependence on God, as well as a servant-minded approach to leadership, but they actively learn, practice what they learn, build on it, and grow in strength and wisdom so they can be teachers, shepherds and givers, not just consumers.
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   “In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” -Hebrews‬ ‭5:12-14
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   “Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God… And God permitting, we will do so.” -Hebrews 6:1-3

Do you want to stay stagnant, or flourish?

One day when I was considering what it means to store up treasure in heaven, I had a startling thought: What if one of the treasures we are storing up is our own spiritual development? It’s just speculation, of course, but what if the level of spiritual maturity we’ve reached when we die were to be permanent? Would you be happy with where you’re at, happy enough to stay there forever?

Now, we know that in heaven, sin and brokenness will be no more, so we don’t have to worry about our shortcomings following us into eternity, praise be to God. But Scripture says we have opportunities this side of heaven that angels can only long for. This life means something, we have agency, and Jesus tells us that what we do here will matter in eternity. We will gain much understanding when we can finally see him face to face, but the Kingdom of God has already begun, and we’ve been given a chance to grow right now.
Would you want your current level of spiritual maturity to last forever?

Jesus talked quite a bit about treasure in heaven, and how those who have received salvation by faith alone still have work to do going forward- work that the Father will reward according to the faithfulness we’ve shown. But our growth is not just for us. The world is watching and needs to see the light of God shining through us as we grow in love and spiritual health, so that they will have hope that they, too, can thrive as they become more deeply connected to the Vine.

If you know me, you know I’m not usually one to get speculative when it comes to spiritual matters. I want to offer you only what is solid. But I think this question has the potential to open our eyes to the fact that we really do want to be growing in our faith, and to empower us to start pursuing it. If we wouldn’t be content to be where we are spiritually forever, then let’s not be content to stay there today. Let’s keep growing.

Where do we go from here?

So what’s your next step? Do you need to put your trust in Christ and begin the journey? Are you ready to become more familiar with the Bible and learn the basics? Maybe you’ve already got a pretty good foundation and it’s time to go deeper, or to start putting into practice what God has already been teaching you. Personally, I still find myself bouncing around a bit, discovering thrilling and profound new truths from God, and then discovering I need to go back and relearn some of the basics. It won’t be linear, but as we grow in faithfulness and love for Jesus, it will always be good.

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.” -2 Peter 3:18

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