Spiritual Growth

How does God expect mankind to grow spiritually? It isn't as though there were a method for acquiring spiritual stature in place as there is for physical growth. Good food in the proper amount ajd adequate exercise enable one to attain the full potential of the physical stature that has been planted within.

There is no such mechanism in place within the human body for the attainment of spiritual maturity. The individual who is born again, who now has faith in the salvation provided by Jesus Christ feels like he is on top of the world when he gains eternal life and he may not even recognize that he needs anything else.

Though he can attain Heaven just as he is, the fact is that he will have a much more successful journey there if he finds and employs the Lord's resources for spiritual maturity. One need is that he must be established in the Word. Isaiah 34:16 says that believers are to, "Seek ye out of the Book of the Lord and read..." The truth of God is conveyed in the Bible. It must not be a mere dust collector on a shelf. The prophet says further in Isaiah 28:13 that the acquisition of wisdom will be, "...precept upon precept, line upon line; here a little, there a little..." so we know man must build upon his knowledge by drinking in the Word.

Paul tells believers in Hebrews 19:25 that they must not forsake the assembling of themselves together," they, "...exhort one another," especially as they see the signs of His return increasing. He says in I Thessalonians 5:17 that believers must, "pray without ceasing," and to the believers in Romans 8:26 he writes that their prayers must be in the Spirit who will help them when they don't know how to pray. The believer who follows these precepts will be well on his way to increasing in wisdom and spiritual stature, and he will be fully committed to sharing the sustenance of his own spiritual growth with the hungry souls he meets.