A Heart Strengthened by Spiritual Growth -- Chapter 17

2 Peter 3:18, “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Spiritual Growth Begins in Jesus Christ

You and I have two options for how we live. We can live our lives with Jesus Christ or without Him. It’s a clear-cut black/white, either/or situation. The Bible says, “This is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life,” 1 John 5:11-12. As this Scripture tells us, there is no life without Jesus Christ!

A New Beginning

When you and I come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, we are given a new beginning, a fresh start, forgiveness for the past, wisdom for handling life, and power for doing what’s right. The apostle Paul explains it like this: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17.)

God’s Love and Acceptance

No matter what has happened, no matter what life looks like, no matter what you’re feeling, you are accepted in the Beloved – and nothing else matters! Indeed, God has “made us accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6)!

God’s Power in the Holy Spirit

Can you imagine having the power of God at work in your life? When Christ is your Savior, that’s what happens. God empowers you through His Holy Spirit to do good, to effect change in your life, to make your life fulfilling and meaningful, to help others, and to minister for Christ. Jesus said, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8).

God’s Total Sufficiency

No matter what the problem, the hurdle, the struggle, the suffering you face, God promises, “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Whether you’re dealing with temptation, a difficult marriage, problems with the children, needs in the home, personal challenges, loneliness, demands at work, health issues, a stretching ministry, or any other difficult situation, God promises, “My grace is sufficient for you.”

Spiritual Growth Involves the Pursuit of Knowledge

Luke 2:52, “Jesus increased in wisdom.”

Proverbs 15:14, “The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness.”

Put another way, an intelligent person purposefully seeks knowledge, but fools nibble randomly, vacantly chewing on words and ideas that have no value, no flavor, and no nutrition.

What are you and I feeding our minds? Are we heeding this biblical warning about the danger of “garbage in, garbage out”? May we purposefully seek knowledge and guard against spending precious time on things that have no value.

Spiritual Growth Includes Stewardship of Your Body

You may have been hoping this subject wouldn’t come up, but we’re told in the Bible that how we manage our body affects our ministry and the quality of our lives. The apostle Paul put is this way: “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27).

The goal in the physical realm is discipline, the self-control that is a gift of God’s grace. His Spirit in us gives us strength to resist temptation, control our appetite rather than allowing it to control us, and to train our body into obedience.

Spiritual Growth Means Becoming Like Jesus

Increase in Knowledge

As we’ve seen, Jesus is our model. God desires for us to follow in His footsteps and grow in the knowledge of God as well as in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Like Paul’s prayer for the church in Philippi, our prayer for ourselves should be that our “love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment” (Philippians 1:9).

Have a Plan

When it comes to increasing your knowledge of God, you have to do a certain thing (sit down) in a certain place (your place) with certain items (pen, paper, reading schedule, study guide, whatever you need) at a specific time (your time). When you do, you’ll enjoy a feast from God and His Word!

Do Something

So develop a plan, remember once again that something is better than nothing.

Spiritual Growth Blesses Others

Try these three ways to improve your relationships with people.

• Mind your mind.
  

Your actions will reveal your attitude toward people. That’s the message of yet another Proverb: “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). Thoughts that are critical, negative, harmful, and jealous not only go against God’s Word, but they spawn actions that are the same.

• Mind your mouth.
  

Our relationships with people are enhanced when we follow in the steps of the Proverbs 31 woman who “opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness,” Proverbs 31:26.

• Mind your manners.
  

The Number One way to be pleasing to God and approved by man is to be the servant of all. Our servant assignment from God is to give honor and preference to one another.

Heart Response

God calls you to love Him, first and foremost, will all your heart, soul, strength, and mind and to allow that rich love you enjoy in Him to overflow into your family, into your neighbors, into the lives of others. That’s why a heart strengthened by spiritual growth in Him is so very important.