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When we become a Christian, God begins a work in us. We are made new in Christ, but that doesn’t mean He’s finished. In fact, He’s just beginning. From the moment we put our faith in Jesus until the day we see Him face to face, we are called to grow in our relationship with Him, becoming more like Him in the way we think, the way we live, and the way we love others.
Philippians 1:6 reminds us that He who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. God is committed to that work in our lives. But what does it actually look like to grow spiritually? And what part do we play in becoming spiritually mature?
Spiritual growth is not automatic. Becoming a Christian is a choice. And so is growing in Christ. We can become Christians and remain spiritually immature. That isn’t God’s desire for us, but it is something that can happen when we don’t intentionally pursue a deeper relationship with Him.
Spiritual Growth Doesn’t Happen Automatically
Think about a baby who has just been born. Under normal circumstances, that baby is going to grow. As long as they receive the nourishment, protection, and care needed to develop, he or she will not remain a baby. Over time, that child grows, learns, develops, and eventually becomes an adult.
Our spiritual lives are different. We can be born again and still remain spiritually immature. We can know Jesus and still fail to grow into the maturity God intended.
Hebrews 5:12-14, ddresses a group of believers who should have been further along in their faith. It reads:
“In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” (Hebrews 5:12-14, NIV)
These believers had been Christians long enough that they should have been teaching others, but instead, they still needed someone to revisit the basic truths of God’s Word with them.
One of the signs of spiritual maturity is learning to distinguish between good and evil, between what is of God and what is not. As we grow in our knowledge of the Lord, we develop discernment. We become less easily deceived because we are learning to recognize truth.
God doesn’t want us to remain spiritually immature, dependent on someone else to tell us what is true. He wants us to grow in our understanding of His Word so that we can recognize truth, walk in it, and help others do the same.
As we grow, we become more like Christ. The fruit of the Spirit becomes increasingly evident in our lives. We become living examples of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
These aren’t qualities we can manufacture through sheer will power and determination. They are the fruit of the Holy Spirit working in us. We cannot produce them independently, but we do have a responsibility to cooperate with the work the Holy Spirit wants to do in our lives.
Deep Roots and Removing the Weeds
Jesus gives us another picture of spiritual growth in the parable of the sower. He describes seed that falls on different kinds of soil, showing the different ways people respond to the Word of God.
Some of the seed falls on shallow ground. It springs up quickly, but because it doesn’t have deep roots, it withers when the sun comes out.
From the outside, it may have looked like that seed was doing well. There was growth, and there was something visible happening. But without roots, it didn’t remain.
Spiritual growth isn’t just about what people can see on the outside. We need deep roots in the Lord. We need a relationship with Him that goes beyond the surface.
The same parable also describes seed that falls among thorns. It begins to grow, but the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke it out.
In other words, even when the seed finds good soil, there are things that can interfere with its growth.
We have to pay attention to the things that compete for our hearts. The distractions, worries, pursuits, and desires of this world can slowly take our attention away from the Lord. If we aren’t careful, we can become so consumed with everything happening around us that we neglect the very things that nourish our spiritual lives.
God wants us to be fruitful. He wants us to be like the seed that falls on good soil produces a harvest, some thirty, some sixty, and some a hundred times what was sown.
God wants us to develop deep roots, recognize the things that hinder our growth, and become people whose lives produce lasting spiritual fruit.
The Step-by-Step Path to Spiritual Maturity
One of my favorite passages about spiritual growth is found in 2 Peter 1:5-8. It gives us a picture of how our faith should develop over time.
Peter writes:
“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.” (2 Peter 1:5-7, NIV)
He goes on to say that if we possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep us from being ineffective and unproductive in our knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Notice that Peter describes a progression. We begin with faith, but we shouldn’t stop there. Our faith becomes the foundation on which we continue to build.
Faith. Faith is where our relationship with Jesus begins. We believe in Him, put our trust in Him, and begin a new life in Christ. Faith is the foundation, not the finished product.
Goodness. As we grow in faith, we begin to understand what goodness really looks like. Without God, our understanding of good can be distorted. We often measure goodness by what seems right to us or what the world tells us is right. But as the Holy Spirit works in us, He begins to change our desires and teach us to recognize what is good in the eyes of the Lord.
Knowledge. As we learn what is good, we need to grow in our knowledge of God. We need to know His Word, understand His character, and learn what He desires for our lives. It isn’t enough to simply want to do good. We need to understand what God calls good, and we find that in His Word.
Self-control. Knowing what is right and actually doing what is right are two different things. We can read God’s Word, understand what He asks of us, and still struggle to put it into practice. This is where the Holy Spirit works in us to develop self-control. He helps us lay aside our own desires so that we can choose obedience.
Perseverance. Spiritual growth doesn’t mean we get everything right the first time. We can make the right choice one day and struggle with the same thing the next. We can take steps forward and sometimes stumble along the way. But we have to keep going. Proverbs 24:16 reminds us that when the righteous fall, they get back up again. Perseverance means we don’t give up when we fail. We keep returning to the Lord and choosing to follow Him.
Godliness. As we continue to grow in knowledge, self-control, and perseverance, our lives begin to reflect the character of God more and more. We become increasingly more like Christ, not because we have made ourselves good, but because we are allowing Him to work in us.
Mutual affection and love. Finally, Peter moves us toward a greater love for others. We begin to care more deeply about other believers and the people around us. And then we add love. This is more than a natural affection or a feeling. It is the kind of love that comes from God, the selfless, sacrificial love that Scripture describes as agape love.
What I love about this passage is that it reminds us that spiritual maturity is about more than gaining knowledge. It’s about becoming someone whose life increasingly reflects the character of Jesus.
The goal isn’t simply to know more about God. It is to become more like Him, growing in our love for Him and our love for others.
Spiritual Growth Requires Our Participation
We cannot produce spiritual transformation through our own efforts, but we do have a responsibility to respond to the work God is doing in us.
The Holy Spirit produces the fruit, but we must be willing to cooperate with Him.
That means we have to make choices. We choose to abide in Christ. We choose to renew our minds through His Word. We choose to spend time with Him, listen to His instruction, and put what we learn into practice.
And one of the most important ways we participate in our spiritual growth is through obedience.
If we truly believe Jesus is who He says He is, then our faith should affect the way we live. We don’t simply acknowledge Him with our words. We demonstrate our belief through the choices we make and our willingness to follow His instruction.
Obedience doesn’t earn us a relationship with God. We are saved by His grace. But obedience is part of what it means to live out the faith we profess.
This isn’t a formula that we follow. It is a lifestyle, and it takes a lifetime. As we continue to walk with Jesus, we learn to recognize His voice, trust His leading, and surrender more of our lives to Him.
And the more we do that, the more we grow.
Sometimes Trials Reveal How Much We Still Need to Grow
I don’t feel spiritually mature. Spiritual maturity isn’t a feeling.
I have seen growth in my life over the years, but I’ve also experienced seasons when I thought I was further along than I really was. Sometimes it takes a difficult situation to reveal what is actually happening in our hearts.
Over the summer, I experienced some things that really challenged me. I had some circumstances come my way that felt like being hit in the face with a two-by-four. They caught me off guard and left me feeling dazed.
I remember telling my husband that I wasn’t as spiritually mature as I thought I was.
It wasn’t that God was angry with me or that I had been pretending to have it all together. It was that the circumstances revealed something about the condition of my heart that I wasn’t able to fully see until the pressure came.
And I think sometimes that is exactly what happens when we walk through difficult seasons.
When everything is going well, it can be easy to believe that we are doing pretty well spiritually. But when trials come, we discover areas where we still need to grow. We see where our faith needs strengthening, where our patience is lacking, or where we are still relying too heavily on ourselves instead of depending on God.
As uncomfortable as that realization may be, it can also be a gift from God…if we don’t ignore it or hide from it.
When we recognize how much we need Him, we are more likely to stay close to Him. We come to Him in prayer. We seek His wisdom. We become more dependent on His strength rather than our own.
I do much better when I remember that I cannot do anything apart from Him. It keeps me at His feet and reminds me that anything good in my life is the result of His grace, not my own efforts.
Growing Up Spiritually Isn’t Always Comfortable
Growing up hurts.
There are things God wants to develop in us that we cannot learn by simply hearing someone else talk about them. We have to walk through situations where our faith is tested, our character is challenged, and where we must put what we believe into practice.
That doesn’t mean God doesn’t love us when we experience difficulty. He loves us right where we are, but He also loves us too much to leave us there.
He knows what He created us for. He has good things for us, and He desires for us to grow into the people He has called us to be.
There is always grace as we grow. We don’t have to have everything figured out, and we don’t have to get everything right. But we do need to remain willing to let God work in us.
Ask God Where You Need to Grow
I want to encourage you to take some time to ask the Lord to search your heart.
Ask Him to show you the areas where you are still spiritually immature? Are there areas where God has spoken but you haven’t been willing to obey? Have the cares of this world distracted you from your walk with Him? Are there places where you need deeper roots, greater perseverance, or a more Christlike love for others?
Ask Him to show you.
And then ask Him how you can cooperate with the work the Holy Spirit wants to do in your life.
Spiritual maturity isn’t about reaching a place where we no longer need God. Actually, the more we grow, the more we recognize just how much we need Him. We become more dependent on His grace, more aware of His goodness, and more willing to surrender our lives to Him.
God has begun a good work in you, and He intends to complete it. Don’t be discouraged. Instead, keep growing, keep learning, keep obeying, and keep following Jesus.
He will complete the work He has begun.
A Question to Consider: What is one area of your spiritual life where you sense God is inviting you to grow? Take some time to bring that to Him in prayer this week.
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