Spiritual Growth - IIIA

Spiritual Growth
Goals For Spiritual Growth – Part One

Thus far in our study of spiritual growth I have sought to establish the following. Spiritual growth is a choice that we must make commanded by God. That requires diligent effort on our part, yet we are assisted by God in our effort. And we are blessed by God both in this life and the one to come. Spiritual growth is too often hindered by low self-esteem/ Too many Christians sell themselves short, because they do not view themselves capable of attaining higher levels of spiritual growth. Not believing in their God-given capability, they are prone to making excuses for not trying, and therefore not growing. -- Yet because God commands us to grow, we need to have faith that we can grow. But what should be our goals regarding spiritual growth? For what are we to strive for, in making a diligent effort? By what measurement can we determine that spiritual growth is taking place? As with any venture, having goals and attaining them is essential to success. The athlete excels when he or she sets goals, and attains them. The successful business man understands the importance of goals. So it is with the Christian. We must have goals, and measurable ways of attaining them. In this lesson, I want to offer some thoughts in this regards.

First, for the Christian there needs to be what I call behavioral goals. Our ultimate goal is to be like Christ. Jesus intimated such in talking about discipleship. A disciple is to become like his teacher - Lk 6:40 “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.” Jesus wants us to become His disciples - Mt 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."’ Paul made it clear that this is the goal of our redemption. God's desire is that we be conformed to the image of His Son - Ro 8:29 “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” As we are being transformed, it is in the image of Christ - 2 Co 3:18 “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” We are to be renewed according to the image of Christ - Co 3:10-11 “and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.” -- So an essential element of spiritual growth is to become more Christ-like, renewing our behavior to conform to the example of Jesus Christ.

This transformation involves growing in the knowledge of Christ. Which Peter commanded in 2 Pe 3:18 “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.” Not just academic knowledge, but personal knowledge through character development - 2 Pe 1:5-8 “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We must add spiritual graces to our faith, such as virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. It is with the development of such graces that we are truly fruitful in the knowledge of Christ - cf. 2 Pe 1:8 “For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” -- These graces were best personified in Jesus Christ; the more we grow in them, the more we truly know and understand our Lord and Savior!

The challenge of reaching our behavioral goals is that it requires diligent effort on our part - 2 Pe 1:5a “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith,,,”, 10 “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.” It requires sustained effort - Ga 6:7-9 “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” -- As stressed before, such growth does not come naturally; if we are not careful, we may revert back to our former conduct and character - 2 Pe 2:20-22 “For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. What the true proverb says has happened to them: "The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire."’ True spiritual growth demands a renewal of mind and character (Ro 12:1-2 “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”), in which the goal is to become like our Teacher, Jesus Christ!

As members of His body, the church, there are other goals to attain. What I refer to as functional goals. The church is a body with many members in which every member is important - 1 Co 12:12-22. In which not every member has the same function - Ro 12:3-5 “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” In which every member must do its part - Ep 4:16 “from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” -- The Lord's church grows only as each member does his part in the body of Christ.

We will continue this lesson in Part Two looking at how our personal spiritual growth goals are intertwined within the growth of the congregation.