Monday, December 29, 2008
Meant to Grow
We are meant to grow. We are called to change. This all happens in Christ. This process is the true journey. It is an inner movement towards Christlikeness. It is God's goal for our lives. St. Paul wrote in his letter to the assembly in Rome, "For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son..." (Romans 8:29a RSV) As I wrote in the previous post, it is a deepening of a walk of responsiveness to God. It is not fragmented between the sacred and secular. It is our whole life. It is not an addition to our personalities. It is our whole life, our whole being in the very embrace of Christ. It is the image of Christ continually birthing in us. In his letter to the Galatian churches, St. Paul pleaded with the wavering assemblies, "...I am again in the pain of childbirth until Christ be formed in you..." Again, "until Christ be birthed in you." Spiritual transformation/ formation, development/ growth is the process of being comformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others. What has been your idea of spiritual growth? How does it happen? What are your current ideas or practices of how it occurs in your life?
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hmmm...my idea of spiritual growth is to everyday become more like Christ...I think it is a deliberate decision to renew my mind...I'm not sure how it happens...I don't think it can be done without prayer, a personal relationship with Jesus, and some sort of devotional time with Him. This past year, I have dedicated time to reading the Bible daily which I never successfully did before...I also find myself thinking about "spiritual things" more often.
ReplyDeleteI'm questioning my statement that it can't be done without a personal relationship with Jesus because I think that for some (like you, for instance) there is a time of growth before you actually accept Christ as Savior...during a time of searching and seeking, I'm sure there is a development that takes place...
ReplyDeleteWell, there isn't a divide between the secular and spiritual, everything is a spiritual act; it's just whether or not we realize it. Every act is an act towards or away from God.
ReplyDeleteIn Psalm chapter one, the writer tells us that those who delight in God are like, "Trees planted along the riverbank,". But I really don't think we understand the implications of what it's like to 'grow like a tree'--we only think we'll be strong and healthy and fruitful--& while that is true, the growth of a tree is an incredibly slow process. Roughly 12 years ago my dad planted a pear tree and it's still yet to bear fruit [although my agrarian knowledge is small, for all I know the tree should have had fruit years ago the point is spiritual growth is a slow process]. It involves a paradigm shift and an abandonment of our previous world view.
Personally, for me, spiritual growth is a daily & even moment-by-moment walk with my Rabbi, I have had days I found it impossible to not be happy, simply because I get to read the words of Jesus, I get to see how he loved on the marginalized and broken, and then i get to share that love to my customers at work-who often are the broken and marginalized-simply by being caring and gentle to them.
I just try to keep it simple, we have our elaborate systems, and formulas, etc. but Jesus' message is profoundly simple, I believe spiritual growth will occur in my life when I love God, follow Jesus, & love people.
Love & Humility,
Andrew
Ok i'll be the one who is stumped due to the fact that i have many answers running through my head at this present moment. I do agree with Andrews tree anology. As well as Jaclyns two comments.Especially the second one. For many years I walked around truly believing that I was saved ,even when I would walk away from church.(i realize now that it was when I was starting to feel convicted that I would walk oh who am I kidding most times I ran). Ok i have to cut this short miss Alli is throwing a fir write more in the morning after I have slept and can have a clearer mindset to answer these questions.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that so far everyone has touched base on an important aspect of spiritual development: that it is a process. To rearticulate it better and not make it sound like something that happens in a warehouse (a process), we can say it is a journey. Andrew used the picture of a tree growing, which involves seasons, and times of change in both climate and environment. Are the any habits described in the Bible that bring us into the place that God's grace waters our transformation more?
ReplyDeletethis is matt... my "screenname" is questman77. it's a little goofy, but it's a name i've been using since i first got an email address when i was about 12. i always felt like i had a quest that i was on, but never really could nail down what it was for. i think it's funny that 12 years later i still have the same name and the purpose of the quest is finally starting to come into focus. i picture spiritual growth to be the way we proceed on the path God lays out for us. bear with me and i'll attempt to paint the picture that's always been in the back of my head - it's a bit fantasy-esque. you've got this epic mission that you leave home to go on. you leave your house with your sword and set out on a path to a wide open expanse. it feels great to be moving forward and making advances on your adventure. along the way there are things that distract us and we get off the path, put our sword down and spend our time on other things. after awhile you start getting antsy, knowing that there's bigger and better things on the path you were on before - where you should be. the God given task/journey/quest/mission/whatever makes the things around us pale in comparison. the more we taste of the journey we're supposed to be on, the less we want to step off and spend our time on other things. i find that the more i grow the more i want to be on that path. i used to read the Bible every day because i felt like that's what i was supposed to do... now i ready it every day because i want to find out more about God and who He is. when i think of it as being my guide for the quest God intends me to be on, it becomes much more alive and relevant. the cool thing to me is that no matter how big and how intense we think the journey is, God has even bigger plans. that's why He's so awesome. He cannot be outdone, which means we can't even begin to imagine what He's got in mind for us. that's cool.
ReplyDeleteSpiritual growth. I agree with Mike’s definition, “It is an inner movement towards Christlikeness.” Following our conversion, it is a process by which the Holy Spirit brings about change and holiness into one’s life setting us apart for his purpose. I think that at the root of “ spiritual growth” is our understanding of biblical sanctification and how God works to sanctify us once we are saved. At the moment of our conversion God has given us the Holy Spirit as our ultimate sanctifier and helper. I believe this process is personal for every believer yet gods purpose remains the same; to prevent sin and produce spiritual growth (2 Tim 2:21). The process by which we are changed is how well we learn to completely submit to the Holy Spirits leading. When we are completely, totally submitted to the Holy Spirits leading in our life HE can then bring about the spiritual formation in our lives. We will begin to live out the fruit of the spirit and love others as we ought (Eph 5:9). If thoroughly submitted to the spirits leading we will live the fruit of the spirit more and more and acts of the flesh less and less (Gal 5:22-23) On the other hand if we sin and ignore the spirits leading we are literally quenching the very power that God uses to transform our lives. I see God’s hands our spiritual formation as less us and more God. God began the process and is the finisher of the process leading us to Glory once we leave our fleshly bodies, if I would just learn to submit myself genuinely to His leading EVERY SINGLE MOMENT I think that the results would be earth shattering.
ReplyDelete