When you want to grow up in your faith
“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” (1 Peter 2:2-3 NIV)
Grow in Faith from Start to Finish
Some people get stuck in their faith. They reach a spiritual plateau and simply remain there. But that is not God’s desire for His children. The Christian life is meant to be one of continual growth—moving forward and upward as we become more like Christ. Spiritual maturity is a lifelong journey that continues until the day we see Jesus face to face.
The wonderful promise is that God does not expect you to grow by your own strength. The Holy Spirit works within you, using God’s Word to transform your life day by day. The One who began His good work in you has promised to continue that work until the day you stand before Christ. As you faithfully seek Him, He will continue to shape you into the person He created you to be.
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Phil. 1:6 ESV)
To Grow in Your Faith
• Read and listen to God’s Word.
God’s Word is the primary source of spiritual growth because faith grows as we hear and receive His truth.
“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Rom. 10:17 NKJV)
• Be a doer of the Word.
Growth comes through obedience, not merely through knowledge. Put into practice what God teaches you.
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” (James 1:22 ESV)
• Trust God completely.
Believe that God is who He says He is and that He faithfully rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Heb. 11:6 ESV)
• Keep training through constant practice.
Spiritual maturity develops through consistent study, obedience, and experience as you learn to recognize the difference between right and wrong.
“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” (Heb. 5:12-14 ESV)
• Be rooted and grounded in God’s love.
The deeper you understand Christ’s love, the stronger and more mature your faith will become.
“So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Eph. 3:17-19 ESV)
Therefore
Don’t be content to remain where you are spiritually. Continue growing in your knowledge of God’s Word, your obedience, your faith, and your love for Christ. Healthy believers are growing believers, and God has promised to continue His transforming work in you as you walk with Him.
“Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God.” (Heb. 6:1 ESV)
“We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.” (2 Thess. 1:3 ESV)
“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18 ESV)
Quote
“The greatest legacy one can pass on to one’s children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one’s life, but rather a legacy of character and faith.” — Billy Graham