Spiritual Growth : What Our Walk With God is Really
About
By: Donn Adams
Donn@tddm.org
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We frequently talk to everyone about our walk with God but what do we
really know what it means and what is truly involved. Our walk with God
frequently begins at a very early age, at a time when we are not ready to
fully understand what is going on. It is something that every Christian talks
about, learns about teaches about and tries to be perfect at. We hear, we
learn, we follow (Deuteronomy 5:1). This seems really easy to do but is it?
Spiritual growth is the direct result of God's work in your life (Galatians 3:2-
3). Paul is chastising the Galatians for trying to increase their spiritual
growth by human means, not by God's. Spiritual growth is not instantaneous
but rather very gradual. It progresses through every stage of your life. Mark
tells the story of one of Jesus' parables, the Parable of the Growing Seed
(Mark 4:26-30) where Jesus compares our spiritual growth to the growth and
maturing of a planted seed. It is a long process that takes many turns and
twists.
Spiritual growth requires strong faith, strong discipline and strong courage.
It requires that as you mature physically, you also mature spiritually.
Spiritual growth is a full time job that requires a lot of hard work and
discipline. As young men and women, we are tempted to expect too much
too soon. God does not want you to feel that you have to rush through this
process. He wants you to completely understand what you are doing and the
rewards for doing it well. He does not want you to become discouraged
when you meet an obstacle or think you are having a difficult time with your
growth. The adversity in your life that causes these difficult times should be
seen as a blessing because of what you can learn from it. It is a noble goal to
become like Jesus, perfect in every respect but that is unrealistic because we
are human and will make human errors. What we learn from our mistakes
are our spiritual markers that tell everyone how we are progressing. Be not
afraid to strive for spiritual perfection but understand that perfection is for
Jesus and we can only come close. God will be very happy with that. Let
God work in your life and He will reward you more than you could ever
dream.
In His Grace and Love
Donn