Your Spiritual Journey
Spiritual Growth
Spiritual Growth
It is widely accepted as fact throughout the medical community (and just about everyone else) that regular exercise is good for one’s health. Walking, running, yoga, Pilates, weightlifting, all kinds of water sports, etc. are all examples of physical exercises that can strengthen our bodies and improve our mental and physical health. Depending on what part of your body you want to enhance, (or maybe depending on your physical abilities) you pick an exercise to work that part of your body. In the same manner that we try to hone our bodies and treat them like “temples of the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 6:19), we also must strengthen our spiritual knowledge.
Spiritual growth is much like physical training in that one usually doesn’t start running a marathon on Day 1, rather it takes time, effort, and training. In 1 Peter 2:2, we read that as new Christians, we crave pure spiritual milk. Later, beginning in 2 Peter 1:5, we learn of the parts of the spiritual body to focus on to grow in spirit – faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection, and love.
How does one grow spiritually and how do we know that we actually are growing – it’s not like physical exercise where you can see your waist shrink, biceps grow, or lap times decrease. Maybe the best place to start is to learn to know God who created us and has given us everything – our world and everything in it, our abilities to earn a living and grow in knowledge. He even gave us his Son so that we could be saved from our sins. Throughout the Bible, we learn who God is and how much He loves his people. We learn of His goodness through the many things He’s given us, his perseverance with His people as we waffle between obedient and sinful, the knowledge that He imparts to leaders in the Bible and today, the self-control He exercises when his people are disobedient.
Just like with physical exercise, the more effort you put into your spiritual growth the closer you will feel to God and by that measure you will know your spirit is growing. Make a plan, remove barriers and nourish your spirit and allow God into your life.
James
