Bible

Spring is for Growth

istock_000011742381xsmallIf it were not that Spring wreaks havoc on my allergies, it would be my favorite time of year. Springtime is the season for new growth. In a sense, Spring can be an analogy for our spiritual lives. We need times that refresh and renew us in our relationship with God. My post below will look at a few ways we can spur on our spiritual growth using Spring as an analogy.

  1. Spring follows winter. In the part of the country where I live, we generally experience four seasons. While our winters are mild, they do give us rainfall, snow, and cold weather that puts plants into dormancy. We all have, and sometimes even need times of winter in our spiritual lives. These seasons reinforce for us our need to grow and provide us a basis for growth. Without winter precipitation, Spring could not arrive in all of its green glory.
  2. Spring is natural. I know, I know, some of you are thinking, “But if only my spiritual growth just happened. It seems so difficult to consistently grow.” While our spiritual growth is more supernatural, than natural, the concept still fits. As Spring arrives without our help, so our spiritual growth is supposed to take place. God designed us and purposed us for growth. I believe not growing in Christlikeness is more unnatural for the believer than growing.
  3. Spring needs resources. You may think I’m being contradictory. While Spring is natural, it is not alone in its arrival. Spring flowers, plants, and grass grow because of rainfall and sunlight. Nourishment encourages Spring’s arrival as God designed nature to work together. Likewise, we need nourishment from the Son (through His written Word) and from fellowship with our Father (through prayer). These are just some of the resources God purposed for our spiritual growth.
  4. Spring brings life. I love looking at the beauty of God’s created world. Flowers that bloom, grass that turns from brown to bright green, leaves that sprout on trees, and even the insects and animals that seemingly swarm with life during the Springtime are testaments to God’s creative genius. Want to have and spread spiritual life? Then, you and I must pursue spiritual growth.

You may not feel like you’re in the Spring of your relationship with God. You may feel dry and dormant, wondering what is going on in your life. You may feel as if you’re wilting under the burning heat of a spiritual summer. Or you may be cold with a wintry blast of discouragement. Spiritual seasons in life are just as natural as the seasons of our year. How do we respond? I would advise that you pursue the God who wants you to grow. Let him speak to you through his Word. Talk to him in prayer. Build relationships with other believers who will encourage you. Make it a point to be in church. Share Christ’s love and story with someone else. In other words, apply the resources of a spiritual Springtime in your life whether you feel like its Spring or not. God desires your growth even more than you do. He won’t let you remain stagnant for long. Spring is here. Let’s pursue our spiritual growth during this beautiful season.

7 Spiritual Growth Suggestions for 2015

Can you believe it? We’re a week into the New Year already. I can remember growing up how I thought time moved like molasses—very slowly. The older I get, the faster time seems to move, especially trying to keep up with my two energetic little boys. Anyway, I’m sure many of you can sympathize with the speed at which each day seems to go by. Thinking about time and all that needs to be done and all that I want to get done is a necessary and sometimes frustrating endeavor.

Someone has said that we tend to overestimate what we can do in a day and underestimate what we can do in a year. That insightful thought reminds us change, improvement, or movement toward sanctification happens in a process and not overnight. So, how can we grow, improve, or change in 2015? Let me offer some suggestions that I am personally going to adopt this upcoming year.

  1. Be consistent in Bible reading and application. Ezra 7:10 reads, “For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.” I do read the Bible every day. I believe it is a requirement for spiritual growth. But God has been convicting me about living out what I read. So I’m going to try to apply specifically each day something I read from my devotional time.
  2. Grow in my prayer life. I pray every day, but the devotion, depth, and consistency of my prayer life is not what I believe God wants. I’m going to be trying something new. There are about 4-6 parts of my day that I would consider either starting points of the day or transition points (first thing in the morning, last thing at night, devotions with my family, first few minutes in my office, last few minutes in my office, etc.) My aim for 2015 is to make prayer the starting or finishing point for each of those daily transitions.
  3. Go on a mission trip. I’m the missions pastor at my church and annually go on a mission trip. But we are commanded by God to be on mission. One way we can all practically obey God’s commands is to set aside time, resources, and efforts to go on a mission trip.
  4. Read more broadly and consistently. A year ago in December, I finished a PhD, which required an enormous load of reading. While I didn’t take 2014 off from reading, I read significantly less. I’ve put together reading goals for this year that are broad and challenging.
  5. Be useful and give away what God is teaching me. Far too many Christians today soak in their spiritual development and inconsistently, if at all, share with others what they’ve learned. Through friendships, writing, teaching, serving, and leading God has reminded me that his followers are to invest in the spiritual lives of others.
  6. Share Christ personally with more consistency. I love my job and the opportunities I get to preach, teach, write, serve, lead, and share. But sometimes I’ve allowed my responsibilities within the church building to overwhelm my focus. This has at times resulted in a failure to consistently look for conversations and build relationships with those who don’t know Jesus. I know this is an area of my life that needs improvement in 2015.
  7. Renew my commitment to personal health. All of us have many demands on our time. But personal health is a part of spiritual health and growth. Mark Dance wrote about The Physically Healthy Pastor at Lifeway’s Pastors Today blogpost. While it’s targeted at pastors, I’m sure anyone would benefit from the principles.

These seven suggestions are in no particular order. And as a way of personal accountability, I plan to write on these topics through the year. I’ll share where some of these suggestions have worked or need to be amended (such as the prayer strategy). I also hope to share some stories where God is working in my own life teaching me important lessons in the year ahead. We’re all on a journey of spiritual growth. These are some of the suggestions I believe God is leading me to adopt this year. What about you?