The Basics of Spiritual Growth
It is God’s divine Will to bring us into a mature spiritual relationship with His Son, Jesus Christ. However, we must grow to an appropriate stature for that to happen. We would find it inappropriate for an adult male to be in a relationship with a toddler. The same is true spiritually; Jesus wants to be equally yoked with us. Also as we grow up to His stature, we achieve an intimate relationship with God, the Father.
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the
knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man,
unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of
Christ… But speaking the truth in love, may grow up
into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
(Ephesians 4:13,15)
The LORD has placed within every person the potential to grow in the stature of Jesus Christ if he or she chooses to do so. Let’s look at what God has provided by studying the Lillies of the field.
…Consider the Lillies of the field, how they grow;
They toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto
You, That even Solomon in all his glory was not
arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so
clothed the grass of the field, which to day is, and to
morrow is cast in the oven, shall he not much more
clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no
thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we
drink? Or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after
all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your
heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these
things (Matthew 6:28-32)
There are four lessons to be learned about God’s provision for growth from the Lillies. First the lillies abide in the place they are and grow there. They don’t complain or wish they were someplace else. Lillies meekly surrender to God’s chosen place for them to grow. This is an important lesson for believers. We must not blame challenges or problems for our lack of growth. We can grow a lot of stature in any situation if we meekly surrender to God’s Headship.
Next, lillies use what is available rather than trying to reach for substance in another part of the field. The lily knows that God has provided what it needs to grow, so it draws its substance from below and above in its appointed place. As believers we grow when we draw on the nature of the Crucified Christ from below in our humbling situations and the nature of the Resurrected Christ from above in our exalted situations.
The third point we learn from the lillies is that they feed at night. Plants work during the day going through the process of photosynthesis to manufacture the necessary grape sugar that they will feed on at night. Believers must work during the day seasons of their lives, putting into practice all the truth they have learned from God’s Word so that when their night season hits they will have some faith and strength to feed on.
Finally, the lily rests in God. It doesn’t worry about what it looks like or smells like; it trusts God completely to clothe it in whatever beauty he sees fit. Our spiritual growth will come naturally if we learn to rest in God because he has placed everything we need to grow within our reach.
So, if we consider the lillies we will know that wherever we are, in whatever circumstance or situation we are in, God has provided substance in the form of His Word and Spirit to help us grow if we choose to use it.
You can learn more about spiritual growth from this book