Time to Grow

I ’ve never had a green thumb. With the exception of a few bug-ridden tomato plants decades ago, my attempts at harvesting food from plants I personally planted is, well, non-existent. I like the idea. It seems quaint and resourceful to grow your own food—a kind of back-to-nature resiliency. But I’ve reached a simple conclusion about planting a personal garden: I don’t do it. It turns out, food comes from the grocery store.

However, I’m sure it would not take too much coaxing to convince me that growing things yourself is actually a great idea. For starters, there’s the purity of the end product and the personal satisfaction of having your hands in the dirt. The triumph of home-grown veggies is a farm-to-table victory that must surely be rewarding. And with rising food prices and sky-rocketing gas prices, maybe fewer trips to the store would increase one’s financial security.

But there are at least three reasons why I don’t grow things myself: I don’t see the benefit, it’s too hard, and I don’t have time. We could easily substitute the phrase, three reasons with the phrase, three excuses. Because, truthfully, I’m just making excuses.

These three excuses have a ring of familiarity to them. I’ve used these excuses more than once to talk myself out of another kind of growth—my own spiritual growth. Sometimes, I haven’t put forth the effort to grow spiritually because: I don’t see the benefit, it’s too hard, and I don’t have time. People using those excuses are usually lazy and passive about their spiritual progress.

Becoming a Christian is easy, but following Jesus in the process of our spiritual growth is costly. The free gift of salvation is received in an instant through an act of believing that Jesus died for us. In that moment, we are given new life, we are declared righteous before God, and we are guaranteed heaven.

But growing as a Christian is different. It takes time and effort. Our maturity is the result of a process of growing over many years. And our success at spiritual maturity calls for our diligent cooperation with the Holy Spirit as He works in us. We can’t grow without God’s help. But it’s not an easy or passive process. Growing as a Christian is not automatic. Not inevitable. Not guaranteed. God never zaps anyone into maturity. It’s even possible our spiritual growth might be stunted, or it may be that we’ll fail to grow altogether. Yes, living things grow but only if they’re nourished over time. Admittedly, spiritual horticulture is not for the faint of heart.

Throughout the Scriptures, God clearly urges believers to grow in their faith. It’s reasonable to assume that these biblical commands to grow reveal the possibility we may not. All the more reason to be attentive. Peter said, “As newborn babies, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby” (1 Pet. 2:2). To desire God’s word as a means to growth is to crave it, to long for it, to possess a deep yearning for spiritual nourishment. Why? So that one may grow. We are to crave God’s word because growing requires knowing what God wants us to know and doing what God wants us to do.

We’ve all known people who have stalled in their progress toward maturity in Christ. I’ve had seasons when my growth slowed or stalled, and my guess is you have too. But some believers remain spiritual infants far too long. They are often quick to announce, “I just want to be fed,” while doing nothing to learn to feed themselves. The author of Hebrews states it plainly by reminding his readers to, “go on to maturity” (Heb. 6:1).

Growing takes time, but a certain amount of time is adequate for one to become mature. No wonder those original readers of Hebrews were told, “…by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again” (Heb. 5:12).

Furthermore, we are exhorted to, “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18). Here, the word grow is an imperative in Greek—meaning, it’s a command. We must do it! And no one can do it for us. Not even the church. Many people have fallen into the trap of looking to churches to do for them what those churches never could. No one can grow for you. Neither can anyone make you grow. Joan Chittister’s words help us face this truth: “No one grows by doing what someone else forces us to do. We begin to grow when we finally want to grow.” 

Why do some people grow spiritually while others make very little progress? Why do some people take off and soar while others get bogged down and become stagnant? These are necessary questions. And equally fascinating is realizing the people who grow and the people who don’t are often exposed to the same sermons and the same songs, the same devotionals and the same podcasts, the same environments and the same programs, the same experiences and the same opportunities.

Why do some of those people go on toward maturity and others don’t? Could it be that, for some Christians, their desire to grow has not been fanned into a flame because they haven’t seen growth as important? They’ve yet to grasp the benefits. Or perhaps like the seed among the thorns, their vitality has been choked by the worries and riches and pleasures of life (Lk. 8:14).

However, growing spiritually is absolutely worth it! Here’s why: Our growth toward maturity pleases God and glorifies Him. We are born spiritually to grow spiritually. Growing helps us experience who we are created to be. It helps us make sense of life. It turns us into influencers for God. Growing prevents us from wasting our lives. Growing means we’re becoming better people. Growing positions us to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Growing makes it possible for us to help others hear the gospel. It makes us ready to invest our lives for good. It ensures we’ll be equipped to disciple other believers. Growing reminds us that we’re part of God’s larger kingdom movement on earth. It helps us bear witness to the love of Christ. Growing in this life positions us for reward later at the judgment seat of Christ. Growing prepares us to enjoy eternity.

Our growth toward maturity is impossible apart from the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. He helps us. He will often surprise us and help us grow in ways we would not have chosen. But we are held accountable by God for our response to those growth opportunities. That’s why Peter reminds us to make every effort to build upon our faith (2 Pet. 1:5). Spiritual growth requires our cooperation with God as He works in us. And remarkable things happen when our obedience is combined with God’s grace (1 Cor. 15:10). God doesn’t merely tell us what to do; He offers His power to help us do what He wants us to do. But without the decision to diligently and deliberately grow, we most likely will not.

Let’s suppose you’ve seen someone play a song or create a work of art or complete a construction project. And when you compliment them on their talent or craftsmanship, they say something like, “It’s not me, it’s all God.” How would you address their claim that what you witnessed was all God? I might respond, “Well, yes and no.” To the musician I might say, “I’m pretty sure you have been practicing guitar for 12 years.” And to the artist I might reply, “I’m certain your painting took you over a month to create.” And to the construction worker I might observe, “I know I saw you swinging a hammer on that construction site.” Did God help all of these people? Of course He did. Do they want to give glory to Him? Yes, it appears so. But they each cooperated with God. They did something. So it wasn’t all God or God alone. They showed up too. God did His part, but they also did their part. They practiced and worked and honed their craft. Aided by the Spirit, they offered their efforts in hopes of personal fulfillment and with a desire to glorify God. Granted, their part was likely very small compared to the part God played, but their part was not to do nothing.

God gives us wisdom and strength as we join Him in our process of growth. The end result of growing is to become more like Jesus. That’s supernatural. And God is the one who grows us along the road to maturity. Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers and described their process of spiritual growth with a simple agricultural analogy, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase” (1 Cor. 3:6). Maybe our part is to do something like planting or watering, while always remembering that God causes the growth.

Seems to me, we’re cursed to live in a culture that insists on immediate gratification. There’s a chance that mindset has tainted our view of spiritual growth and desensitized us to the time and effort required for Christians to mature. Spiritual growth is not quick and it’s not easy. Eugene Peterson describes our devotion to God as “a long obedience in the same direction.” Since we’ll never fully arrive this side of heaven, we must look to Jesus in daily, attentive devotion if we want to grow to more closely resemble the Savior.