Spiritual Growth

When we first moved to the East Coast after the cold winter was over and the snow had melted away, the gardeners came to lay mulch in the soil for the plants to blossom and grow. I remember on one such day my son, as he descended the stairs of our apartment building, said “Dad it stinks out here?” For the growth of the plants mulch is necessary, the stench is the herald that says the plants are being enriched by the soil around them. Every day brings a new surprise, that is the glory of spring. In the same way in our spiritual lives, we need our seasons when we need to be shown areas in our lives that are or have grown weak, and find the right mixture of people or the right environment where we will be strengthened to be more fruitful in our lives.

St. Paul says that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). How many of us really understand the gravity and reverence of such a verse? How many of us really desire the Spirit of Christ to reside within our hearts? Does the counsel of the Spirit of Christ have any impact on our decisions? It is only when we read the Bible and good Christian literature about the lives of fellow Christians and their views that we get spurred on to tuning our hearts and minds to God. Other ways of reading the Bible daily is using Bible apps (eg. Our Daily Bread, Daily Audio Bible, Bible Geeks). We need to make a strong commitment to be disciplined in our reading of the Bible and staying in touch with God through prayer (Psalm 119:18, Luke6:40).

 An ancient way of reading the Bible which was practiced in monasteries in 6th century called Lectio Divina (Divine Reading). It is a contemplative way of reading the Bible. It is a way of praying the scriptures to go deeper into God’s Word. We open our hearts and minds as we encounter the living God’s presence in and around us all. The process involves slowly prayerfully reading, meditating, and contemplating on a passage of scripture with open hearts. We spiritually feed on the living bread that is set before us slowly and thoughtfully. As we delight in reading and meditating on the scriptures, they begins to speak to us, as we begin to feel the presence of God. 

If reading the word becomes a part of our spiritual lives, we will be like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in season (Psalm 1:3). As Christ dwells in our hearts through faith, we are rooted and established in the love of God (Ephesians 3:17-18).  We lead a blessed life when we trust in God our provider. Our confidence in living abundantly in God’s love grows stronger too (Jeremiah 17:7-8). 

Families should find a way to pray and read the Bible together regularly. We also need to find ourselves in a small group of strong believers whom we can fellowship with regularly. Their support will help us in our spiritual growth. They will inspire us and will speak the truth to us with love. They will help us grow to accept Christ as our head and show us how all his people are joined together as we work, grow and build ourselves up in His love (Ephesians 4:15). 

We need to be careful in the company of those intent on following the desires of their ungodly natural instincts. We could fall into addictions to anger, alcohol, pornography, fowl language, bullying etc. The agnostics and non-believers are those who cannot understand the ways of Jesus and consider such ways as foolishness (Psalm 10:4, Isaiah 5:20, 1 Corinthians 2:14). They are the ones that will cause divisions in the community of Christ and in our hearts as well (Jude 1:17-19). If we are in the company of people where we find ourselves becoming selfish, conceited, envious and provocative of each other then we need to be extremely careful. These are factors that will stunt our growth substantially and make us unproductive. In our times of prayer when we draw near to God we should confess our sins. When we feel helpless ask for God to guide us to root out and prevent us from entering into temptations. 

How do we develop the spiritual gifts we have to love, serve, forgive, encourage and give to the community? It is through prayer and meditation on God’s Word. When we pray for the needs of our community, we begin to see how we can help those who are in need. When we find ways to serve the community we faithfully administer our gifts of grace (1 Peter 4:10). When the life of Christ flows through us we flourish in the fruits of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. It is only in Jesus we find full and abundant life (Galatians 5:22-26). God continues creating and recreating in us, the real one He wants us to be. He will continue to work on us all the days of our life until one day we see him face to face. (Philippians 1:6; 2 Corinthians 3:18, 4:16-17).

Prayer :- Heavenly Father as we rejoice in your presence and the gift of life, we pray that you will guide and teach us to live in the light of your Word. Amen