KCU/03/Knights
Topic 2: How do people grow? Question: Do more research into the four models of spiritual growth discussed in How People Grow & give a more detailed explanation & support for each of the models. Then, in light of your research, which model(s) of how people grow would you choose & why? (If the group cannot come to a consensus, feel free to have different group members each express their own opinion)
Contribution sent by Larae Back:
Spiritual growth is detailed in 2 Peter 1: 3-8, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 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, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of your Lord Jesus Christ.
So spiritual growth includes: (1) increasing in your knowledge and understanding of God’s Word, (2) decreasing in your frequency and severity of sin, (3) increasing in your practice of Christ- like qualities, and (4) increasing in your faith and trust in God. Perhaps the best summary of spiritual growth is becoming more like Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 11:1, Paul says “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of what it truly means to be spiritual.
In order for spiritual growth to occur, you first need to make sure you possess a true spiritual life through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. “And this is the testimony : God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:11-12). When you believe in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit lives inside of you ( John 14:16-17) and you are a new creation in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore; if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.” Your old nature, which is dominated by sin, is replaced with a new nature that is under the influence of God’s Spirit (Romans 6-7). Spiritual growth can only occur in a person who knows the Lord Jesus Christ as his or her Savior.
Learning how to grow spiritually is a life- long journey which occurs as you read and apply Gods Word to your life. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 teaches us “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” In order for spiritual growth to occur, we must be taught, rebuked, corrected, and trained by God’s Word. Then we will be thoroughly, equipped for every good work. This is the essence of spiritual growth.
Another key to Christian growth is walking in the Spirit. Galatians 5:16-18, 24-26 explains, “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are lead by the Spirit, you are not under law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking, and envying each other. Walking in the Spirit is allowing Him to fill you (Esphesians 5:18), control you, and guide you. This is brought about by consciously choosing by faith to rely on the Holy Spirit to guide you in thought, word, and deed (Romans 6:11-14). Failure to rely on the Holy Spirit’s guidance will result in a believer not living up to the calling and standing that salvation provides. Ephesians 4:1 says, “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
Spiritual growth is a life-long process of manifesting the acts of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21) less and less and producing the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) more and more. The Holy Spirit produces the fruit in us. We must submit ourselves to the Spirit’s leading, but it is the Spirit who produces the fruit of spiritual growth in our lives. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. If you are becoming more of these things you can rest assured that spiritual growth is genuinely occurring in your life.
God works in different people in different ways. Some people grow rapidly, while others grow slowly, but steadily. We should not compare ourselves with others, but compare ourselves with God’s word. The scriptures are the mirror to show us what we are like spiritually and to shine light on the areas that need to experience and learn spiritual growth. James 1:23-25 declares, “ Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror, and after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard but doing it he will be blessed in what he does.”
Spiritual maturity is a process that begins when a person accepts Jesus Christ as Savior. He or she is born again of the Holy Spirit and chooses to live “in Christ.” The Apostle Paul said that spiritual growth is an ongoing process. “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14). Even the Apostle Paul had not arrived yet he continually pressed toward the prize.
In order for Christian maturity to develop in your life, you must make a choice to learn God’s Word, allow God to renew your mind, and then be obedient to what you learn. Romans 12:1-2 says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy to offer your bodies as lining sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- his good, pleasing and perfect will.”