A Plan For Spiritual Growth
Caleb Suko
As we enter a new year it’s an important time to evaluate our spiritual state and make corrections where needed. Did you have a plan for your spiritual growth last year? Do you have a plan for your spiritual growth this year? It’s doubtful that we will grow spiritually if we don’t plan for it and intentionally pursue spiritual growth.
For the Christian spiritual growth is a lifelong pursuit that we must never give up on. If we are not growing spiritually then we are withering spiritually. There is no such thing as healthy stagnation spiritually. Paul was aware of his personal need for spiritual growth.
Philippians 3:14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Paul was intentional, focused, and persistent in his pursuit of spiritual growth and Christ.
What is spiritual growth?
Before we can make plans for growing spiritually we must understand what spiritual growth really is. There are two common misconceptions about spiritual growth that I want to address before looking at the Biblical definition.
Spiritual growth is a list of rules
First some confuse spiritual growth with following a set of strict rules. They believe that if they wear the proper clothes, obey all the correct rules, and follow some spiritual regiment then they will grow spiritually. While certainly spiritual growth includes obedience to God, we must be careful that we don’t make spiritual growth into nothing more than an exercise of self-discipline. True spiritual growth comes as a result of faith and the work of the Holy Spirit and the power of God’s Word in our lives. We must not turn spiritual growth into nothing more than a formula for behavioral modification.
Spiritual growth is a mystical experience
Others confuse spiritual growth with having certain mystical or emotional experiences. The truth is that sometimes we can have amazing experiences that have nothing to do with God, with God’s Word, or with spiritual growth. Certainly, this is not true of all our experiences. God can and does give us amazing experiences in our worship times together and in personal worship times. What I am saying is that we should not make those experiences the standard by which we measure our spiritual growth.
Thankfully, the Bible speaks much about spiritual growth and gives us clear direction.
So what is spiritual growth? Paul explained this way:
Philippians 2:5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
To another Church he wrote:
Ephesians 5:2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
What does spiritual growth look like?
While spiritual growth happens on the inside, those changes will result in visible fruit that you and others can see. Paul gives us a great list of what spiritual growth looks like:
Galatians 5:22–23 NIV — 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
As we grow in our faith, in our understanding of God, and in our submission to Him, these qualities will increase in our life and we will grow spiritually.
Simply put spiritual growth is a strengthening of our faith which makes us more like Jesus in our mind, our heart, and our actions.
The key ingredients
While there is no program or set regime that will guarantee true spiritual growth, there are, however, a few ingredients that must be present.
The Holy Spirit
God’s Word
Prayer
Fellowship
Worship
Service
Suffering
Each of these aspects are vital and each of these aspects interact with each other. However, since I’m limited in my time I want to focus primarily on the first two ingredients in spiritual growth.
Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the agent who gives you spiritual life and produces spiritual growth.
Ephesians 3:16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
Without the Holy Spirit we are dead and unable to grow spiritually. (Eph 2:1)
If you believe in Jesus as God and Savior then you have the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13) If you don’t then you need to carefully consider the truths of the Gospel. Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to all of this disciples. He is the one that convicts our hearts of sin, leads us into truth, and changes us from the inside out.
John 14:16–17 NIV — 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever — 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
Friend, if you don’t have the Holy Spirit in your life today all you need to do is to come to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith. He is the only one who can forgive you and he is the only one who can give you the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit all our efforts to be holy and righteous will fail. We need him in order to have any spiritual life and in order to grow in our faith.
As you think and plan for your spiritual life this year, do not forget the Holy Spirit. Turn to Him, trust in Him, be filled by Him, allow Him to guide you through the Scriptures. Do not make decisions without Him, do not ignore His conviction when you have sinned, do not take him for granted but rather increase his presence in your life daily by remembering His important work and submitting yourself to his leading!
Scriptures
The Holy Spirit’s greatest tool in our life is the Word of God. The Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:17 “The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” So don’t pretend to be relying on the Spirit when you don’t have the Sword of the Spirit with you. The Spirit requires his tools to do his work! We can also say that God’s Word and prayer go together. While I will not say much about prayer in this sermon, that in no way means that it is not vital in our spiritual lives. However, I think it’s important to note that God’s Word also gives a foundation upon which we can build our prayer life. We must have both.
As we think about planning for our spiritual growth and success this year we must give priority to the place of God’s Word! The better we know God’s Word, the better we can know God Himself. The better we know God’s Word the better we will understand what true holiness is. The better we know God’s Word the more accurately we will be able to identify sin in our own lives.
Illustration: When I grew up we heated our home in the winter with nothing more than wood that we had collected, cut, chopped and stored over the summer months. Even though the summer months were warm we knew that the cold winter months would come and if we didn’t collect enough wood then we would be in the cold during the winter. Thus, every summer we would spend much of our time cutting, chopping, hauling, and stacking wood for the winter. We had a plan, we knew approximately how much wood was needed and we went out and got it. I remember my father saying to, “The great thing about heating our home with wood is that it heats you twice, once when you gather it and once when you use it!” He was right, I spent many hours with sweat running down my brow gathering and cutting wood in the summer months.
God’s Word plays a similar role in our life. It is the fuel of our spiritual life, without it we will simply be cold spiritually speaking. Yet, God’s Word can also heat us twice, three times, or even more. It heats us in our daily study and it heats us again when it comes back our hearts in times of pain and trials.
If God’s Word is our fuel then the Holy Spirit is the spark that makes it burn in our souls and worship and prayer are the fans that blow those coals into a powerful flame. Let me ask you, would you like to burn as a flame for God this year or are you content to sit on the sidelines in the cold! If you want to burn then you better start adding fuel to the fire!
2 Timothy 1:6–7
6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
How can we fan into flame the gifts God has given us? One of the main ways we do that is by diligently studying His Word and submitting our lives to the truths that we find in His Word.
2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
God’s Word not only provides fuel for your spiritual growth but it also gives you a solid foundation that will allow for continued growth. Much more than simply providing instruction on how you should live, God’s Word reveals to us the very character and nature of God. The more accurate our understanding is of God the more likely it will be that we can bring our lives into line with His will.
1 Peter 2:2 NIV Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,
One of the main characteristics of a newborn’s craving for milk is that it is often and regular. A newborn baby must eat 2–3 hours. This appetite is the result of growth and the reason for it. As we plan for our spiritual growth this year we must make plans for a regular diet of God’s Word. This isn’t always easy. Satan doesn’t want us to grow in our faith, he doesn’t want us to know God better. That’s why it seems like nearly everything in this life is against us when we try to do a simple thing like study God’s Word.
I want to encourage you to make a specific plan for your Bible reading/study this year.
Why do you need a plan? If your goal is spiritual growth and real life change then it’s important that you expose yourself to the whole truth of God’s Word. Spending all your time in one book or even in several books of the Bible can leave you with a warped view of God’s overall revelation. Without a plan we will generally stick to reading those sections of Scripture that we find most interesting or pleasing to us and stay away from those areas that may be hard to understand or convict us of certain sins.
I recommend checking out this list of free reading plans from Bible Gateway. Also I recommend Daily Audio Bible
Establish a time to read, meditate, and pray. I know that many of you are busy and it’s difficult to fit another thing in. Yet, often even those who are “busy” still manage to spend time on social media or play a favorite game. I’m convinced that we all have enough time to give to Bible study. Maybe mornings are best for you, maybe midday or evenings. Do what works for you!
God does not give us specifics about the time of day, how many minutes, or how many chapters we should read each day. When it comes to these details, we have freedom to decide for ourselves. On the other hand God does give us reason to strive to study his Word often and regularly. Passages like Psalm 1 talk about meditating on God’s Word day and night. Peter also tells us to desire God’s Word like babies desire milk (1 Pet 2:2) and Paul exhorts Timothy to study Scripture in order to be an approved workman (2 Tim 2:15).
Our goal should be to constantly deepen our understanding of God’s Word. One of the best ways to do that is through daily Bible reading, study, and mediation. This however, is a means, not an end. We should not turn it into a legalistic burden for ourselves or for others. If we miss a day, I don’t think God is up in heaven saying, “I can’t believe Caleb didn’t read his 5 chapters today!”
Remember, Jesus taught that his burden was light and that his yoke was easy (Mat 11:29–30). So instead of feeling guilty about missing a day, just get back on the horse as soon as you can, not because you’re guilt tripped into it but because you want your faith to grow and you want to know God better today than you did yesterday!
As we plan our Bible reading we must strive to keep the Biblical motivations for reading Scripture central. Below are a few of the main motivations for Bible reading as I see them. This is not an exhaustive list, I’m sure you could add to it.
Reasons to read the Bible:
To know Jesus. (2 Tim 3:15)
To deepen our faith. (Rom 10:17)
To keep us from sin. (Psalm 119:11)
To give us direction in life. (Psalm 119:105)
To bring joy and great reward. (Psa 19:8–11)
If you can keep some of these vital reasons for studying God’s Word in mind every time you open your Bible it may help you avoid the temptation of turning your daily reading into a race to check the task off your list. Instead, as you read, keep these purposes in the back of your mind.
Ask yourself: “How is this helping me know Jesus better? How is this deepening my faith? How is this convicting me of sin? How is this giving me direction in life? How is this bringing me joy?”
Application of God’s Word
Practicing Bible reading and Bible study but failing to apply those truths to your life is one of the most dangerous things you can do to your spirit. If we want to grow we must also plan to apply to our lives the things that God is teaching us
James gives us no nonsense instruction here:
James 1:22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
While this seems to be a simple task, it is often not as easy as it looks. As fallen humans we like to be very specific when it comes to applying Biblical truth to the lives of others. We read a passage and think:
“Dave really needs to read this so that he can finally understand how greedy he’s being by buying that new car.”
or
“Maybe I’ll text this passage to Bev so she can see how much she hurt me when she said, ________”
What confident and unmistakably clear insight God has given us into the lives of others! The problem is that we are often nearly blind when it comes to applying those same truths our own lives. The clarion call for specific application and action in the lives of others often turns into generalizations of abstract spiritual truth when the attention is turned back on us.
When asked:
“What applications did you take away from your Bible reading today?”
The answers we give for ourselves can often look like this:
“I need to trust God more.”
“I realized that I need to be more disciplined with my time.”
“God showed me that I need to love others more.”
While these are all valid applications, they remain obscure, undefined, and as a result often unapplied in our lives. Notice what the author of Hebrews says about the power of God’s Word.
Hebrews 4:12–13 NIV — 12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
To allow God’s Word to dig into the private depths of our heart, to uncover hidden and favorite sins, to show us our faults, to open up wounds from long ago, these are never pleasant things and our human nature will do everything possible to avoid it. However, good Biblical application isn’t an option for the Christian, it is a must. It is something we must intentionally strive for daily as we dig into God’s Word. If we are not vigilant in the task we will soon slip back into vague personal application and God’s Word will lose it’s power to change our hearts.
As you plan for your Bible reading this year make sure that you don’t forget to make time for personal evaluation and application. Here are a few things you can do to make sure you are applying God’s Word specifically and personally.
- Approach God’s Word with a humble and broken heart: Read Psalm 51
- Ask God to search you and to lead you: Psalm 139:23–24
- Write down specific applications.
Conclusion
If you want to burn hot for God this year then make plans to add fuel to your spiritual fire. Turn to God’s Word and to the Holy Spirit, make it a priority to study and apply God’s Word to your life on a regular basis.
