DRCM and NGMIF Bible study

When you think about spiritual life, you have to think about growth, and that shouldn’t surprise us because when you think about life in any form, life is equal to growth. Growth is evidence of life. You plant a seed in the ground and it grows to a full-sized plant. That’s the nature of life. You have a small puppy in your house and it grows to be a big dog. You have a baby in your house and it grows to be an adult. That’s the way life works. Life, essentially, can be defined as the dynamic of development or the dynamic of growth. Life is equal to growth. Where there’s life, there’s growth.

That is certainly true in the spiritual realm. God, who gave us spiritual life in Christ, intends for that life to grow, intends for that life to grow into maturity. One of the difficult things in the human realm is retardation or some kind of deformity that prevents a child from developing physically or developing mentally, and we see that as a sad reality in life. The failure to grow spiritually is equally tragic -- in fact, it’s more tragic because one cannot enter into all of the spiritual blessings and benedictions that the Lord has for those who mature in Christ.

Spiritual growth, then, is a privilege. It is also an obligation, it is a responsibility for us, and the goal of spiritual development is to become like Christ.  John wants his readers, at whatever stage in the Christian life they are, to consider what God has done in their lives. He wants them to know that they have authentic faith.

Wherever you are in your Christian walk, God wants you to be encouraged by His grace so that you will grow more.