In Christ, we can have new beginnings as we embrace growth and change. Of course, I speak of Christ’s transformative power that meets us where we are and takes us to places we could never have imagined. The change Jesus offers us is an opportunity for personal and spiritual growth, emphasizing the importance of leaving behind the past and embracing the promise of new beginnings in the Lord.
Kevin and Sherry Harney write in their book Organic Disciples, “Spiritual growth is marked by engagement in practices that connect your heart to Jesus and an ever-deepening partnership with the Holy Spirit to share the love and message of Christ with others.” Therefore, spiritual growth is synonymous with discipleship. Here’s what we need to know about discipleship. Genuine discipleship leads us to grow in knowing God and in making Him known; it moves believers out with the Gospel. I have a working definition of a disciple I use. A disciple is a person who is saved by Jesus, follows Jesus, is being changed by Jesus, and is on mission with Jesus. Then, a disciple embraces spiritual growth.
What does it mean to embrace spiritual growth? Embracing Spiritual growth means going beyond recognizing Jesus as Savior and inviting Him as Lord to lead you in an ongoing journey of spiritual growth. Jesus declared, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). Therefore, to be a disciple of Jesus, a Christian, we must say no to our own will and yes to God’s will (actually, His will becomes our will), forsaking worldly ambitions by arranging our whole life around God. We arrange our whole life around God by receiving Jesus as Savior and inviting Him to be our Lord.
How do we receive Jesus as Savior? Paul answers this question in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” By faith, we are saved from sin and its final consequence, death. Salvation can never be earned by works – good things we do – so we have nothing of which to boast. We are saved by receiving Jesus as Savior, acknowledging that He died for our sins and was resurrected for our salvation, desiring to walk with Him. C.S. Lewis, writing about this work of salvation, explained, “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” Embracing spiritual growth begins by receiving Jesus as Savior.
We must receive Jesus as Savior, then invite Him as Lord to lead us. How do we ask Jesus as Lord to lead us? Paul writes in Romans 10:9, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” The word “Lord” was used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament for the name of God. Paul applied the title to Jesus, showing that to confess Jesus as Lord is to accept Him as the Lord God and, therefore, invite Him to lead your life. Believers invite Jesus as Lord to lead them in arranging their whole life around Him. Embracing spiritual growth requires we invite Jesus as Lord to lead us.
Inviting Jesus as Lord to lead us, to arrange our lives around Him, speaks of ongoing spiritual growth. We discover in Colossians 2:6-7, “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” First, when we encounter “therefore” in Scripture, we must ask, “What is it there for?” Paul answers this in verse 6, “as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord.” It’s not enough to receive Jesus as Savior; we must continue to “walk in Him,” obeying Him as Lord. When we continue to “walk” with Christ, we are by God’s power “rooted” in Him like a strong tree and “built up” in Him like a beautiful building. As Oswald Chambers brilliantly put it, “The purpose of discipleship is to enable us to stand, not to make us think we can.” As our “faith” is “established,” life is filled with “thanksgiving.” Such a walk with Christ necessitates an ongoing journey of spiritual growth.
The call to discipleship is a daily commitment, an ongoing journey of growth in relationship with Jesus. It’s not a one-time decision but a continuous process of learning, serving, and deepening one’s connection with the teachings and love of Christ. Each day offers opportunities for spiritual development, character shaping, and embracing faith’s transformative power. Remember, we are not speaking of earning salvation but how those saved embrace spiritual growth. As Dallas Willard taught, “Grace is not opposed to effort; it is opposed to earning. Earning is an attitude. Effort is an action.” Embracing spiritual growth necessitates we engage in an ongoing journey of spiritual growth.
Consider recognizing Jesus as a distant star in the night sky. Moving beyond recognition is like embarking on a celestial journey, where you not only admire the star but navigate by its light. It’s a dynamic voyage through the cosmos of life, with Jesus as the guiding star illuminating your path. The journey involves exploring new constellations of faith, steering through challenges, and experiencing the transformative radiance of having Jesus as Lord in the vastness of your existence. Of course, Jesus is more than a guide; He is the one who empowers us on the journey and is with us each and every step through His indwelling Spirit.
Moving beyond recognition to a dynamic journey with Jesus as Lord involves transitioning from merely acknowledging Jesus to actively engaging in a transformative relationship with Him. It entails surrendering one’s life, embracing discipleship, and continuously seeking spiritual growth through a dynamic and ongoing connection with Jesus as the ultimate guide and authority in one’s life.
Paul expressed His personal journey with Christ as Lord this way, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14). Paul still had room to grow in the knowledge of Christ. So, he pressed on. He was determined to know Christ fully because Christ had laid hold of him when he received Christ as Savior and Lord. Paul describes the Christian life as a race. The runner’s goal is a complete knowledge of Christ as Savior and Lord. His task is to concentrate on one thing, which is winning the prize.
No victorious runner ever looks behind. So, the Christian must not be discouraged by previous defeats nor proud of earlier achievements. Instead, the believer must press urgently toward the finish line so that He will receive the eternal prize that God will give him in Christ Jesus. I hope each of us embraces spiritual growth by receiving Jesus as Savior and inviting Him as Lord to lead us in an ongoing journey of spiritual growth. Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone)!