I am currently preaching a series on the potential of the Church. One of the messages in this series is on the spiritual growth potential of our local church. In light of that message, I wanted to share some very practical steps a person can take to reach his or her own spiritual growth potential.
1- Join a Small Discipleship Group! There are lots of different types of smalls groups out there. If your goal is to grow spiritually, find a group that is intentional about helping people become disciples. Join a group that prioritizes such disciplines as bible study, scripture memory, accountability, and ministry. This is the kind of group Jesus led. Jesus’ group was designed to train His disciples to do ministry.
2- Commit yourself to personal spiritual disciplines! Having a daily quiet time, doing regular systematic bible study, practicing times of prayer, fasting, solitude, and journaling are all disciplines you can practice on your own that will help produce spiritual formation in your life. Jesus even practiced personal spiritual disciplines in His own life. Jesus would often wake up early and meet with His Father in a place of solitude.
3- Work through a sound discipleship curriculum! When children go to school, they find themselves working through a set curriculum. This curriculum has likely been chosen because it will provide standardized objectives that every student needs to have a well-rounded education. Spiritual growth follows a similar pattern. There are set concepts that every disciple needs to be well-rounded spiritually. The Discipleship Essentials by Impact Ministries is a great example of a well-rounded discipleship curriculum.
4- Find a place of service in your church! Spiritual growth does not just happen in small groups or in private quiet times. Spiritual growth also occurs when people are serving and using their gifts, abilities, and passions to help others. In many ways, serving is to your spiritual growth what exercise is to physical growth. We grow not only when we are taking in, but when we are also giving out.
5- Share your faith! Like serving, sharing your faith helps develop your spiritual muscles. Few things in my life have helped me grow more in my relationship with God than when I have shared my faith with people who are lost and have questions about God and the Bible. Start sharing your faith with lost people and you will be surprised at how much you grow spiritually.
6- Listen and learn! I once heard someone say, “If you could meet once a week with Billy Graham, would you do it?” My answer would be “yes.” My point here is that you can listen and learn from some very good preachers and teachers to help you grow. Today, we have so many podcasts and websites with solid teaching available there is really no excuse for not learning more.
Ultimately, the one thing you need more than anything else to reach your spiritual growth potential is desire. All the resources in the world will not matter if a person does not desire to grow spiritually. Impact Discipleship exists to help you grow spiritually. Please feel free to check out this free resource on spiritual growth we offer!
