What if your greatest spiritual growth does not come through some cataclysmic event. What if the most important spiritual breakthroughs in your life are slow and methodical? Are you going to be OK with that?
Recently I had a conversation with a young man about spiritual gifts. He had a wrong understanding of the gifts of the Spirit from 1 Corinthians 12. He had begun to pray for the Lord to give him a special gift or manifestation so that he could minister more effectively. But why?
After a long conversation I realized that he wanted spiritual gifts because he longed for spiritual maturity, but he didn’t want the long process of growing up in Christ. He saw spiritual gifts as a sort of short-cut to spiritual growth.
Most people aren’t praying for spiritual gifts to speed up their spiritual growth, but many people seem to expect that spiritual growth is going to come through breakthroughs and powerful spiritual encounters. I hope you experience a few of those in your life, but the truth of spiritual growth is usually a little less exciting. Most of your spiritual growth will come in weekly worship services, early morning Bible readings, short prayers, and time with your small group. You will grow as a Christian in moments of grief and times of struggle. You will mature as you walk with others in their own spiritual valleys.
Never underestimate the power of ordinary disciplines to bring extraordinary change in your life.
As I type this in my office, a kid is bouncing a basketball in our gym. I watched him for a few minutes. He plays on his school team, but this evening, he stood almost under the backboard and spent several minutes shooting layups. Close layups–the kind you shouldn’t ever miss. But he kept shooting them.
Why? Because ordinary discipline is powerful. A kid who never misses a layup might become a kid who never seems to miss a jump shot.
Often, your Bible reading will feel like a close layup, but keep going. Keep reading, keep praying, keep showing up. God is working in those small areas to bring great change in your life, and by extension, in the lives of all those you influence.
Photo by Ashkan Forouzani on Unsplash
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Growth is a very slow process, that reality has become very apparent since I have lived to my late 70’s. Take time to read the very words of God, pray short prayers throughout the day as we live our lives and find fellowship in a small Christian group. So do not quite, thank God for your growth and see sins and this world become less appealing as we turn to Him more each day. We can start feeling peace and joy maybe for the first time. Then if anyone question you about your eternal destination you can reply that you are indeed saved because your faith is in the savior instead of your works. When you help someone let the glory be attributed to Jesus the one that died so our sins could be forgiven. Growing in grace takes time so be patient and take one step at a time.