Are you ready to grow spiritually?
When was the last time you were really hungry? Oh, I know, we say all the time: “I’m hungry” or “I’m starving,” but usually we had a meal or a snack just a few hours before. And we know it’s a pretty simple process to get something to eat. Are you spiritually hungry enough to really want to grow spiritually?
Hunger is a relative thing. You may feel the temporary pangs of hunger, knowing that you’re going to eat in about half an hour. But there are many people all over the world who go to bed hungry each night, not just in 3rd world countries, but all over the world. Those folks know what it means to be hungry way more than you and I probably do.
And it makes them appreciate on a much deeper level the food they have more than you and I might.
Someone like this who truly doesn’t have enough food to eat might try to preoccupy themselves in various ways to distract themselves from thinking about how hungry they are. Or they might focus all their attention on finding something to eat, just to survive.
The need to grow spiritually
Now you may be wondering: Hey James, you said you were going to talk about the need to grow spiritually. What does all this talk about being hungry have to do with that?
That’s a great question. I’m so glad you asked.
Think of being hungry as a metaphor for wanting to grow spiritually. How hungry are you to grow spiritually? How hungry is your church to grow spiritually? And I don’t mean incremental growth, but exponentially.
Jesus said to be spiritually minded, you have to really want it. This is one of his beatitudes.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matthew 5:6 NIV
The Greek word for “filled” means also to be satisfied.
So the question really becomes: How hungry are you for righteousness, for spirituality, for spiritual growth?
Distractions from spiritual growth
Just like a truly hungry person might try to not think about how hungry they are by distracting themselves with unrelated activities, a lot of people today who are hungry and starving spiritually, and don’t even realize, are being distracted by what the material world says will fill, fulfill, and satisfy them. But what the world offers you can never satisfy your spiritual hunger, your spiritual needs.
How hungry are you spiritually? I knew a woman years ago who was very spiritually minded in many ways. She had some amazing testimonies of how God had protected, guided, and healed her family over many years.
But at times she had an almost self-satisfied attitude that because she believed in God and had had all these wonderful examples of God meeting her needs, she didn’t really need to grow spiritually anymore.
Now don’t get me wrong. She was woman of prayer but she kind of hit a plateau in her prayer life and spiritual growth that she admitted she couldn’t get past.
She really wasn’t hungry and thirsty for a deeper spirituality. And she acted like she had all she needed.
This can happen with an individual. It can also happen with a church.
Does your church want to grow spiritually?
Is your church hungry, on a deep, deep level, for radical spiritual growth, that’s not just maintaining where you are or making one baby step of progress at a time?
How hungry are you and your church to grow spiritually? It’s not something you can vote on at a church business meeting. I’ve tried that and it doesn’t work.
Sometimes it begins with one person who realizes their deep need for more spiritual growth. They’re hungry for a whole lot more of the spirituality they already have. They’re no longer, I don’t know if “satisfied” is the right word, but they’re no longer content with where they are spiritually and see they can go higher.
You can be that person. You can be the one who is so hungry and thirsty for things of the Spirit that you inspire others around you to do the same.
Not everyone at church will notice, at least not at first. That’s okay. And don’t tell anyone what you’re doing. Let them notice when they do. You’re not doing it for people to notice. You’re doing it to feel closer to God, to see yourself more the way God sees you, and to love others on a deeper level than you ever have before.
And by spiritual growth, I don’t mean just reading more pages in your Bible, or repeating certain prayers more often, or reading more books and articles about spiritual topics. It’s more about opening your eyes, your spiritual eyes, and your heart, to see more than you saw before of God’s love, power, and grace.
And in this process, pretty soon, you’ll realize the spiritual growth that got you where you are, will not get you where you want to go.
To grow spiritually, you need a new approach
When I was a student in southern France my junior year in college, some friends and I decided to climb nearby Mont Sainte Victoire (see painting above by Paul Cézanne). We walked to the bus station, took a 20 minute ride to where the trail started, then hiked for a couple of hours till we got to the top.
We couldn’t take the bus all the way. It got us as far as it could, but it wasn’t designed to go up the mountain. We had to walk to get to the top.
What got you where you are spiritually right now is wonderful and has served you well. But you will need a fresh, deeper, and more hungry approach to spirituality than what got you where you are.
Part of that hike up Mont Sainte Victoire was relatively easy, but parts of it were hard and strenuous. You may have to work harder at this time of spiritual growth than you did previously. And what does that even mean, to work harder to grow spiritually and how do you do it?
Thinking back to the lady I mentioned earlier who didn’t really see the need to grow spiritually, from my perspective at the time, there seemed to be a bit of personal pride in the way she always wanted to be right and have things her way. Not in a malicious or selfish way, but in a self-focused way instead of a God-focused way.
Now, I could have completely misjudged her at the time and now as I’m thinking about her. She was a wonderful person in so many ways, but I felt there were ways she could have grown spiritually that she didn’t see the need for.
To grow spiritually, you have to let go of limiting beliefs
Of course, it’s always easier to see what someone else should do differently than to look at yourself in that same way. And usually when we see someone else needing to do something differently, it means we’re really the one who needs to change.
So in light of that, I look at myself and ask: Do I really want to grow spiritually? How much do I really want this? How hungry and thirsty am I for things of the Spirit? Or am I satisfied with just a little spiritual growth to solve an immediate problem and then go back to the distractions in my life that keep me busy but don’t help me get closer to God or bring the healing message of Christ to those around me?
On the surface, I say I want and pray to grow spiritually. But frankly, some days that prayer is more sincere than other days.
What I’m realizing is that in order to grow spiritually, I have to leave behind some of the things that are keeping me from going forward. Like the ego, which would make me think too highly or too lowly of myself. Like fear of failure. Or fear of success. The human mind sometimes is afraid of the added responsibility and expectations that come with success.
I catch myself all the time entertaining limiting beliefs about myself and my abilities to accomplish either a particular project or my life purpose as a whole.
These are the kinds of things I need to let go of in order to grow spiritually.
Letting go of negative thinking
What do you need to let go of? Is it pride hiding behind one it’s many masks? What about your personal opinions? Or is it fear of some sort? There are so many types of fear. Is it a need to always be in control or to always be right? Or the limiting belief that you’re incapable and that there’s something wrong with you.
We all need to take an honest look at ourselves in the mirror and face these attitudes and habits of thought that keep us from overcoming the limits we’ve accepted, consciously but more often unconsciously, about our ability to progress spiritually.
What you and I need to grow this way spiritually is also needed in our churches. As I said, this may begin with one person making significant spiritual breakthroughs, which in turn inspires others at church to do the same. Sometimes it’s a joint prayer project that compels a whole church forward spiritually.
Imagine what your church would be like if all the members were consciously and conscientiously striving to let go of the things holding them back and hungry and thirsty to grow spiritually.
To grow spiritually, what does your church need to let go of?
Is your church willing to examine how it has responded to situations in the past and find ways to be more Christlike?
Years ago, I was a member of a church who got a grant of $35,000, that’s over $100,000 in today’s economy, for the purpose of sharing the Gospel with our community. At the time, our church desperately needed new carpet for the lobby and sanctuary. One church member said she couldn’t think of anything that would promote the Cause of Christ better than having new carpet so visitors wouldn’t be turned off by the worn out carpet.
As a church, we had been praying about whether to get new carpet and many of the members thought this money was the answer to our prayers. There were others, myself included, who believed this grant could go a long way to reach out to the community with events and services that would meet the needs of the community and give us opportunities to share our faith more effectively.
After all the discussion, the church voted to use the money for the new carpet. I was devastated. I was confused. From my perspective, we violated the terms of the grant and lost a huge opportunity to bless our community.
I haven’t been a member of that church for many years. I wonder if they even remember that incident. And the people there now are probably not the ones responsible for what happened.
But was there ever a moment of self-examination in this church to revisit that decision and how it may have hindered future church growth? I really don’t know.
Letting go of old ways of thinking and doing
What I encourage you individually and in unity with your fellow church members to take a look at some of the things your church has done, how it has responded to situations, and people. Is there anything that needs to be repented of? Are there times when your church could have been more Christlike in the way it dealt with something?
These things need to be cleared away.
Is there anything your church is holding onto, old, no longer valid ways of doing things in today’s world that may have worked 25 or 50 years ago, but are no longer effective? You can’t get to the top of the mountain in a bus. You can’t get where you want to go as a church by what got you where you are.
So, how on earth do we let go of old, outdated ways of thinking and acting? How do we make significant strides in our spiritual growth as individuals and as churches?
Jesus shares the best way to grow spiritually
As I love to say here on The Bible Speaks to You Podcast, Jesus always has the best answer that cuts right to the heart of the matter. In his Sermon on the Mount he puts it right on the table for us.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Matthew 6:33 NIV
This is like the twin sister of the beatitude I already quoted where Jesus declares how we’re blessed and will be filled when we hunger and thirst after righteousness.
Are you and I really putting our hunger and thirst for righteousness, our search for the kingdom of God first and foremost in our lives? Or is it just an occasional desire on our part, focusing most of our attention on our own agendas?
A tough lesson
Once a monk was teaching a younger man the ways of God. They came to a trough full of water and the monk told his student to get a drink. As the young fellow bent over the water, the monk shoved his face under the water and held it there for what seemed a very long time. The younger man was struggling to get his face above water but couldn’t.
Finally the monk lifted his student’s head out of the through. He was gasping for air. And he asked him: “What were you thinking when your head was under water?” The young man said all he wanted to do was breathe. He wasn’t thinking of anything else but getting a breath of air.
The monk replied: That is what it means to be hungry and thirsty for God. It’s all you think about or want.
Now, I know, that’s a pretty graphic way to teach this lesson, but it makes a very good point. How focused are you in your desire to grow spiritually? I have to be honest, some days I do a better job at this than others. But I keep working at it.
Paul’s deep desire to grow spiritually
Paul gives such a wonderful example of having a desire for the highest spiritual growth possible. And he realizes it’s a process.
I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.
No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Philippians 3:10-14 NIV
Are you praying to God just to solve your immediate problems? There’s nothing wrong with that, but sometimes we need to ask more of God. Paul says he wants to experience the mighty power that raised Jesus from the dead.
That’s like Moses asking to see all God’s glory.
And like Paul, we need to quit holding onto the past and the way we used to think about and do things, individually and at church, and look forward to new views and new ways of experiencing the kingdom of heaven here on earth.
What keeps you from growing spiritually
When I was a kid, my friend Julie had a giant fish pond in her backyard. Every year my family would go over to help her family clean out all the mud and silt on the bottom of the pond. It was great fun. We would catch the gold fish, some of them were over a foot long, and put them in a big tank. We’d take out all the pots of water lilies and other water plants, drain the water, clean out the mud, refill the pond with fresh water, and put everything back.
One year there was a very interesting black fish with googly eyes and very fancy fins. Julie’s dad said the fellow at the pet store where they bought it said it would never get bigger than 3 or 4 inches long. But here it was, almost a foot long.
Her dad explained it was because the fish had a larger pond to swim in. In a little aquarium, it would have stayed small because of the restrictive environment. But with no boundaries for growth, it grew much larger than expected.
When you or your church aren’t growing, it might be because you are living in a tiny little mental fish tank. There’s no room to grow. If you have a small, negative, fearful, or limiting mindset, it’s no wonder you’re not growing.
Isaiah’s invitation to grow spiritually
God says through the prophet Isaiah,
Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities. Isaiah 54:2, 3 NIV
This doesn’t mean to add more space to your church building, unless of course you have so many new members that you need more space.
It’s a metaphor to expand your thinking to include more of God’s infinite possibilities and blessings. It means to stretch yourself mentally and spiritually to be more receptive to the possibilities of what God will do in your own life and for your church. And it means that you will be open to listening for God’s guidance in how to go forward, leaving behind ways of thinking and action that no longer will get you where God wants you to be.
To grow spiritually, you have to really want to grow spiritually. You have to be hungry and thirsty for righteousness, not just mildly interested that doesn’t require too much effort on your part.
How hungry and thirsty are you and your church to be more like Jesus, to think like he did, to pray like he did, to love like he did, to heal like he did? Then, where will you go from here?
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James Early, the Jesus Mindset Coach, is a Bible teacher, speaker, and church mentor. He conducts Bible workshops online and in person. His focus is on getting back to the original Christianity of Jesus by learning to think, pray, and love like Jesus. Contact him here.
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Bible References
Matthew 5:6 NIV
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Matthew 6:33 NIV
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Philippians 3:10-14 NIV
10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death,
11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!
12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.
13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
Isaiah 54:2, 3 NIV
2 Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.
3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.
