Mike Focht 9/13/2024
Another hindrance to spiritual growth is the idea that it has no functional relevance to our lives. Why should we care about growing spiritually? We know that we are getting to heaven. We know that God can’t love us any more than He already does. We know that He will accomplish His will in our world. So, what difference does my personal holiness make? To many with these types of thoughts, the godliness of our spiritual life has no functional relevance.
Some are bold enough to state this directly, but most hold their unbelief indirectly. They may say that spiritual growth is essential, but it is only important enough to think about and not to live out. We give a Christiany nod to the idea but don’t seek to bow our will to the personal day-to-day reality.
Again, if we simply read the Bible, we find nothing encouraging us to believe that spiritual growth is functionally irrelevant. I would say that any honest Bible reader would immediately find that the maturity of our spiritual walk is relevant to just about every aspect of our lives!
Peter calls on all believers to add to their faith—an obvious reference to spiritual growth—and points out that their diligence to grow will directly impact their virtues, their love, their fruitfulness or unfruitfulness, their steadiness or stumbling, their entrance into heaven, and their knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. All of this is in a single Scriptural passage. All of this is hugely functional for followers of Jesus Christ.
The Scriptures are filled with similar passages, exhortations, and promises. I do not need to list them because any sincere reader will easily find them. The Word of God makes it clear that our growth in godliness is directly relevant to our faithfulness, our testimony to the unbelieving world, the effectiveness of our prayers, our spiritual discernment, our marriages, our ministry to the body of Christ, our eternal rewards and most importantly our personal relationship with Jesus Christ!
You will never find the de-emphasis of spiritual growth in the Bible, but if you want to find a group of people who genuinely believe their spiritual growth doesn’t matter, they are not hard to find! There will always be a group of them nearby. They may declare this conviction directly or indirectly; it may be stated or proven by de-emphasis, but it will be there nonetheless. They will welcome any Christian into their ranks as long as they don’t begin to push past their particular group’s status quo of acceptable Christian behavior and dedication.
But I dare to guess you are not reading this blog because that is the group you are looking for! You want to grow in Jesus Christ. I want to confirm the Holy Spirit’s work in stirring desire in your heart. God cares that we are growing in grace and knowledge of Him. God knows that our spiritual maturity touches every area of our lives. The Holy Spirit is ever working to conform us to His image and likeness because He knows that is the highest joy and greatest blessing we can know.
The Bible makes it clear that spiritual growth is functional and relevant to sincere followers of Jesus Christ. You are on the right path. Just keep asking, seeking, and knocking!