I am blessed to be able to share with you a guest post written by Wendy Wallace at One Exceptional Life. I hope you enjoy this wonderful article on 8 keys to spiritual growth! You can find more information on Wendy and her ministry at the bottom of the article. You will definitely want to check out her website! I also have some resources for spiritual growth you can find here.
Guest Post by Wendy Wallace:
As a child of God, it’s important to take every step you can to be more like Jesus and to grow closer to Him. We work to follow His footsteps because we love Him and want to please Him. So with that in mind, here are 8 essential keys to spiritual growth as well as several Bible verses about growing spiritually that will guide you to a closer walk with your Savior.
When you have a job, you want to know all aspects of it so that you can do the best job that you can. Well, as Christians, our job is first, to love God and keep His commandments. From there, our job is to share the greatest love of all with others and carry out the great commission according to Matthew 28:19-20.
Matthew 22:37-40~ Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Matthew 28:19-20~ Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
The first key to spiritual growth is salvation
In order to learn how to be spiritually strong in the Lord, it all starts with a relationship with Jesus Christ. Before you can do that you must accept Jesus as your Savior. If you died today, do you know for sure that you would go to Heaven? In order to see the Kingdom of God, you must be saved, also known as born again.
John 3:3~ Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Most of us have heard that God sent his only begotten Son to die for our sins. In order to be saved, it’s important that we believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, died on the cross as an atonement for our sins and rose from the grave. If we repent from our sins and ask Jesus to save us from eternal damnation, we will be saved. Salvation is the first step in growing your spiritual life.
John 3:16~ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Roman’s 10:9-10~ That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
8 Keys to Spiritual Growth
The following are different keys to spiritual growth. Although they are in no particular order, each is important. It’s always better to work on your spiritual growth daily, and not just during the hard times. But learning how to trust God completely and learning how to be spiritually strong in the Lord starts with faith.
If we don’t get to know the Lord, how can we grow our faith? How can we know how He wants us to live, and what He has planned for our lives? How can we know how to love God and others or how to carry out the great commission without the knowledge and understanding of God and His Word? What about learning how to be spiritually strong in the Lord? So each of these keys to spiritual growth adds to the whole knowledge of God.
Grow in grace and knowledge of Jesus
Spiritual stability comes as we grow in our knowledge of the Lord. When we stop growing, we become weak and vulnerable. When that happens, the devil sweeps in and causes havoc. You’ve probably heard the quote, “If you’re not growing, you’re dying” by William S. Burroughs. So moving forward is critical.
When we are first saved, we are like newborns. Reading and studying the Holy Bible, hearing the preaching of the Word in a true New Testament church, and spending time in prayer and fellowship with other Christians are ways for us to learn how to be spiritually strong in the Lord.
Spiritual growth also comes through trusting God through the good times as well as the trials of life. Through every trial, we lean on the Lord. This builds our faith and is one of the important keys to spiritual growth.
Grace is the unmerited favor of God. We grow in grace the more we follow God, grow in knowledge, and serve others.
2 Peter 3:18~ But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
Colossians 1:9~ For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
Develop the mind of Christ
What is the mind of Christ and how do we develop it? At the point we accept Christ as our Savior we receive the Holy Spirit which gives us the mind of Christ. This allows us to have a clearer understanding when we read the Bible and in living a godly life. Because before we trust the Lord with our soul, His truth is not revealed to us.
Acts 2:38~ Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Additionally, we need to develop and renew our minds by hearing the preaching of the Word, Bible study, and prayer. The more we immerse ourselves in Christ and His doctrines, the more we develop our mind. Through faith and practice, we gain that spiritual stability.
Roman’s 12:2~ And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Act like Christ
When we think about Jesus and everything He was and did, three things come to mind. Jesus was obedient to God, He lived a life of service and He loved everyone. In developing the mind of Christ, our next step is to put it all into action. Of course, we’ll never act exactly like Jesus because He lived a perfect, sinless life. But we can aspire to be like Him.
Start by making decisions that follow after Jesus, not the world. The old phrase “what would Jesus do?” is a good question to ask when you’re making decisions about TV shows to watch, music to listen to and books to read.
Treat everyone you meet with love and be a servant to all. Put the needs of others before your own. Turn the other cheek in situations where someone is confrontational. Above all, love God with all your heart, soul, and might. Pray without ceasing, rejoice always and in all things, give thanks.
Luke 10:27~ And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18~ Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Hunger and thirst after righteousness
Simply put, living a life of righteousness and having spiritual stability means living a life that is pleasing to God. When we hunger and thirst after a godly, righteous life, we seek to learn and grow every single day.
Every day we get hungry for food and thirst for water. At the end of our meals, we may get full. But that fullness never lasts. We need more food and water, every single day, and several times daily at that. So if we aren’t constantly feeding our mind and soul with Heavenly manna, we become weakened and vulnerable once again.
Weakness opens the doors for the enemy to come in to direct us down paths of sinfulness. So feed on God’s Word to stay strong. There are so many more verses about growing spiritually in the Bible. Refer to Scripture often. Memorization is a great tool to help you grow as well.
Matthew 5:6~ Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Grow your prayer life and keep constant in prayer
Prayer draws us into intimacy with God. But because we live in a constant state of sin, we need the blood of Jesus (who knew no sin) as our advocate in order to come before the throne of God. Prayer increases our faith, which grows as we learn how to be spiritually strong in the Lord.
Be specific in your prayers. Yes, God knows your needs even before you do. But He wants that conversation with you. Talk to Him as you would your closest friend. Lay your deepest burdens at His feet.
Remember, it’s God’s will, not our own. We must trust that God knows better than we do. It’s not about twisting God to our will, but accepting His will in the answered prayer, even if it’s not what you want.
Hebrews 4:16~ Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Matthew 6:10~ Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Sometimes, when I’m feeling distant from the Lord, I will bring a chair near where I hang out in my home. That’s where Jesus sits. So throughout the day, I talk to Jesus. This is a great way to get into the habit of prayer. Bring Him into your life. This is what “pray without ceasing” means.
My conversation might sound like this: “Thank you, Lord for this beautiful day. Please be with Sally, she needs you, Lord. The chemo is making her hurt so bad and she needs your comfort.” “I’m struggling with what to write in this blog post, Lord. Please put your words in my heart so that I may be a blessing to those who read it.” Do you see what I mean?
Prioritize church fellowship
Upon salvation, the first thing you should do is to be baptized into a true New Testament church, which teaches the doctrines of Jesus and the New Testament. What is so important about the church?
The church is made up of saved, baptized believers covenanted together to carry out the great commission of baptizing, teaching, and making new disciples. This is where the Word of God is preached, and where we come together to fellowship with other Christians.
Matthew 18:20~ For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Hebrews 10:25~ Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
The church is also known as the Bride of Christ. It is to be chaste, pure, and protected. Jesus gave his life for the church. The importance of the church and scriptures covering its members would take up an entire blog post of its own. But for now, understand that it’s important to prioritize church membership and to fellowship with other members. This is one of the essential keys to spiritual growth.
Ephesians 5:25~ Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
2 Corinthians 11:2 ~ For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
Show Christian love towards all
Loving others the way Jesus loves is one of the keys to spiritual growth. Let’s face it, it’s not easy loving others. Oh sure, it’s easy if they’re family and treat you nicely. But we are called to love everybody. Even those who are unloveable.
But making love a priority and treating others the way that we would like to be treated takes faith and prayer. If others can tell we love Jesus by the way we treat them, then we’re showing Christian love.
Although there are other types of love, God gave us the perfect definition of His love in 1 Corinthians 13. There are 15 characteristics of this perfect love. I recommend that you learn them and implement them. True Christian love is also a great sign of spiritual stability.
Resist the devil and the urge to follow after worldly things
Satan and his angels are working overtime to lead us down paths of sin and worldly living. If you’re not paying attention, you’ll find yourself caught in a web of destruction. Be sure to focus on Jesus and what He wants for your life.
We do that by prioritizing time spent in prayer and Bible study. Choose friends in the same Christian faith as you. The support and accountability you give each other will really help, especially during times of trials or when your faith begins to waver. Ultimately, be sure to make choices based on what God wants for your life.
1 John 2:15~ Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Psalm 1:1-3~ Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Putting it all into practice
We must stand strong because we are always under the attack of the enemy. The closer you are to the Lord, the more effective you’ll be at handling the challenges that you’re faced in life. Be sure to refer to these and other Bible verses about growing spiritually (that were inserted in this post) regularly to remind you of God’s instructions for living.
Grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus, develop the mind of, and act like Christ. Hunger and thirst after righteousness while growing your prayer life. Make church fellowship a priority and show Christian love towards all. Finally, resist the devil and the urge to follow after worldly things. These are all essential keys to spiritual growth.
2 Peter 1:5-8~ And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
What other keys to spiritual growth do you find helpful? What are your best tips to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ? Please share your ideas in the comments below.
Wendy Wallace is a wife, mom, Christian Inspiration blogger, and author. She is also a quadruple amputee. You can find her at One Exceptional Life, where she blogs about Overcoming Challenges, Positivity, Christian Living, and Amputee Life.
Very helpful .Thank you