You know you’re growing when you…

Photo by Will Oey on Unsplash

DEVELOPMENT through the lifespan is important for the disciple. They accept they’ve been saved by grace alone through faith alone, but that very fact compels them to live for Christ. They translate that as spiritual growth.

You know you’re growing when you:

ü get embarrassed by certain actions you did a year or so ago that you wouldn’t do now – there is always some sense for the cringe factor when there is something you see you did but wouldn’t do again. Yet, grace gives you the instant understanding you’re both perfectly loved yet not there yet;

ü experience less pain than you would have or did some time ago – this is a key indicator of growth – to deal with something better than how it was dealt with in the past;

ü experience more pain because God has made you more sensitive and compassionate to the suffering in the world – this ‘more’ pain is not a pain that emanates from personal loss, but for others when they experience loss;

ü can calmly advocate for something or someone when you previously wouldn’t have been able and/or when you hear and obey the Holy Spirit say, ‘don’t speak now, just listen’ when you would have simply spoken up beforehand;

ü can simply enjoy the present moment, especially when your prayers for yourself are not be answered as you’d like them to be, yet you still have a hope you cannot explain;

ü can be honest about your shortcomings, easy on others, hard on yourself, and don’t feel resentful when others don’t accept their responsibility in faith that God will sort them out… eventually;

ü in seeing evidence of growth, believe even for future growth because God has convinced you that is the fruit borne of the life of faith;

ü [insert yours into one of the comments fields wherever this gets posted]

This would have to be an inexhaustible list.

Spiritual growth is less about what we do; it’s more about growing into who we are in Christ, reflected in how we go about what we do.