How To Grow As a Christian ?



Welcome! In this web page I am going to assume that you are a new Christian and have just recently put your faith in Jesus Christ. Some people think that their spiritual journey has finally come to an end when they become a Christian. But in reality your journey has not ended, but rather your path has changed directions! Now you are beginning a whole new journey in which you travel alongside Jesus Christ.   I first want to help you understand the spiritual transaction that took place between you and God when you put your faith in Christ. Secondly, I want you to understand some key principles about spiritual growth. And lastly, I will help you understand some activities that will cause you to grow strong spiritually.

Contents:

 

1. Your New Life in Christ

For a person to become a part of God's family and start a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, three things must happen:  

a)You must feel your need for Christ
People will never make a major change in their lives without a sense that there is something lacking, something that needs to change, some deep need that must be met. Something happened in your life that gave you the sense that there must be more to life, that you have a moral problem which you cannot solve yourself.  

We have the problem of our past. We feel the guilt of things in our past that we know have offended God. And when we understand the just nature of God, we recognise that no matter what we do, we cannot un-do the things of the past, that those things make us unacceptable to a holy God.

We also have the problem of the present. We find moral deficiencies in our lives and although we hate them and want to get rid of them we find ourselves totally unable to overcome them. There are people we want so much to love, but we find ourselves being selfish, angry and bitter towards them instead. We need help.

And then there is the problem of our future. We recognise that we will all die one day, and then we will be accountable for our lives to the One who made us. We have no basis for confidence about that day, but hopefull we wish that, "Maybe my good things might outweigh my bad things". But the good things can't erase the bad. We need help that only God can give.

b)You must understand what Jesus has done for you
We find ourselves unable to reach up to God's level and meet his moral standards. So God reached down to us. God became a man, Jesus Christ. He experienced all the pressures, sorrows, pains, and stresses of life, but without ever sinning or responding in an immoral way.

He is the only person that has ever lived who did not deserve to face God the Father's moral judgment and condemnation. But in spite of his moral purity and innocence, Jesus did face the full brunt of Gods judgment. Because of God's moral nature, God could not simply overlook our sin. So Jesus did the only thing that would make a way for us to be right with God. He took our moral guilt on himself. Jesus became our substitute.

God did not overlook our sin; rather, he condemned it and passed judgment on Jesus in our place. Because of what Jesus did, Gods justice is not compromised, and yet God can freely forgive us and begin a wonderful, healthy, growing, personal relationship with us. The message of what Jesus did for us at the cross is incredibly good news!

c) You must put your faith in Christ
God doesn't ask us to change our own lives in order to become acceptable to him. He is the one who changes us. Rather, he offers us forgiveness as a free gift. Free to us, although it cost him an unbelievable price. The Bible says "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:23-24). But any gift is meaningless if you do not accept it, and God's gift is no different. To accept God's gift we must choose to put our faith in what Jesus has done for us. We choose to believe that Jesus' death on the cross made a way for God to forgive us and accept us and welcome us into his family as dearly loved children. It doesn't mean that we don't have any more questions, any more doubts. Questions may remain, but there comes a point when you have seen enough of God at work in the lives of Christians you know, when God has revealed enough of himself to you, that you can say, I still have questions, but I have been exposed to enough of God's reality that I am ready to choose to believe in what he has done for me When you make that choice of faith, that is when God transfers your moral guilt to Jesus Christ and views you through Jesus' righteousness. It is then that you become an adopted child in Gods wonderful family and you become the spiritual brother or sister of every other true Christian.

2. Principles of Spiritual Growth

Just as a new little human life needs to grow and mature, so also we need to grow and mature in our spiritual lives after we start our new spiritual journey. Here are three principles that you need to understand on this journey:

a)You cannot live the Christian life.:
This may seem like a very strange statement. Why would God describe how he wants Christians to live if that life were impossible? Yet you will not be a Christian for very long before you discover that your willpower is totally unable to make the changes you want to make.

God is at work in your heart for sure, because now you have so many new desires that are pure and godly. But you find yourself unable to carry out those godly desires in your daily life. I encourage you to open your Bible and read Romans 7:14-25. Here the Apostle Paul describes his own struggle to change.

Just as you are unable to deal with your moral failure before coming to Christ, so also you are unable to live out the Christian life on your own willpower after you become a Christian. What is the answer then? Exactly what Paul revealed in the very next chapter of Romans!

b) God has given you the Holy Spirit to help you :
When Jesus was with his disciples on earth, he guided them and helped them live in a way that honoured God. When he told them that he would be leaving them, they must have wondered how they would cope. And yet Jesus told them that they would actually be better off without him, because when he left he would send the Holy Spirit to them.

In John 16:7 Jesus said to the disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper [the Holy Spirit] will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”

Sometimes we envy the disciples because they got to walk with Jesus, but this verse says that we are better off than they were. They had Jesus with them; but we have the Spirit within us! The Holy Spirit is like your own personal tutor and helper, given to you by Jesus to enable you to live a life that is pleasing to God.

True, your willpower is not strong enough to live the Christian life; but the Holy Spirit is strong enough. As you learn to rely on his guidance and his strength in your life, you will begin to display the character of Jesus Christ and God will begin to use you powerfully in other people’s lives to help them move towards him too.

c) You must make an absolute commitment to God as the leader of your life:
Jesus said, "If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me"(Luke 9:23). That is, you must decide that the most important thing in your life is your relationship with God. It is more important than success in your business, more important than popularity, than having fun or pursuing pleasure. Deciding that your relationship with God is more important than anything else does not mean that you won’t be successful, popular, happy, etc. What it means is that God comes first in your life.

Your relationship with God is like any other relationship. If you put him first, then your relationship will flourish; if you put him last, then your relationship will suffer.

 

3. Spiritual disciplines that will help you mature spiritually:

You will face a constant battle in your Christian life between your old way of living and the Holy Spirit, who is at work in you to help you grow towards Christ. The Bible says (Galatians 5:16-17),"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" .

The battlefield of your life, where the spiritual battle will be won or lost, is your mind! After the Apostle Paul describes his spiritual struggle in Romans 7, he goes on in chapter 8 to describe the way of spiritual victory. Notice the prominence of the mind in what he says,

When you set your mind on spiritual things, the Holy Spirit uses those things to impact your value system. When your values become focused on Jesus, his character will be the natural fruit of your life.

Here are some things you can put into your life which will set your mind on the things of the spirit and result in real significant spiritual growth in your life:

a) Prayer:
Prayer is simply talking to God. Feel free to talk to him about anything. Don't feel like you have to always be in a good mood to talk to God. Let him know when you are frustrated, and also when you are thankful. Talk to him about your day. Ask for his help and guidance. Tell him how much you love him. Treat it just like any other meaningful relationship.

I encourage you to have your Bible open in front of you when you pray. Very often, God will speak to you through the Scriptures. Don't let your prayers be a monologue in which God never speaks. Allow him to speak to you through Scripture. God makes many promises in the Bible. You can call on those when you are talking to God and express your faith that he will fulfil them. Always expect God to be involved in your life.

b) Scripture memory:
One of the best ways to set your mind on spiritual things is to memorise portions of Scripture that are especially meaningful to you. God will use these truths you have stored in your mind to challenge you and to change the way you think about life. Many times these verses will also be helpful to you as you try to help others spiritually.

c)Biblical teaching:
As you first begin to read and study the Bible it may seem very daunting. But think of it like moving to a new city and trying to navigate the road system. At first you get lost quite often. But as you keep driving around, you soon learn the major roads and begin to know how to find your way around.

A good Bible teacher is like a guide that helps you find your way around the new city. When you find someone who explains Scripture in a way that you understand, get under their teaching as much as possible. But remember to keep your faith in the Scripture they are teaching, and not in the teacher.

d) Spiritual fellowship:
Few things will help you relate spiritual truth to practical living more than time spent with other Christians talking about life from a spiritual perspective. When you get together with other Christians, don't just hang out together. Use your time to find out what God is teaching one another. Pray for each other. Share in one another's spiritual lives. The Bible says, "But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called 'Today', lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin" (Hebrews 3:13).

In Closing:

God is totally committed to your spiritual growth. He has given you the Holy Spirit in your life and wants to use other Christians too, to help you grow. As you walk with him in real relationship and set your mind on spiritual things through these three disciplines, God will begin a lifelong process of making you like Jesus Christ in your character, and he will become your closest friend, your dearest love as you walk through life with him.