Growth when I say growth do I mean physical or spiritual growth? In my humblest opinion you cant have one with out the other. Let me explain.
To be spiritually inclined, we have to change the way we think. Paul was one of the greatest biblical writers/preachers and the beginning of the book of Romans talks about how he had to constanly battle with evil in his mind. He always wanted to do what was right, but because of sinful flesh, he couldn't. For that good that he would do, he did not: but the evil that he would not do, he did. (Romans 7:19). Spiritual growth comes by reading and meditating on God's word daily. In our minds we may want to do this but our bodies(sinful flesh) wants to watch the t.v. show we know we shouldn't be watching, it wants to stay in bed longer because it doesn't want to be cold... There are a million and one reasons why we don't do what we're supposed to. God knows this, and he gives us a chance to grow into the places that we need to. Paul wasn't this great preacher, at least not at first. God had to test him and try him to let him grow. This is how we grow and change, but God won't test you until he needs you to be tested. Whats the poitn of testing someone if there is no purpose? This is how we grow spiritually.
We cannot even begin to grow Spiritually until we start to change the habits of the flesh. As I mentioned earlier, Spiritual growth comes by reading and meditating on God's word daily. But how doe we expect to be able to do that if we are constantly coming up with excuses on why we can't do it. Better yet, how can we say we want to grow spiritually if we are still dabbling in the things that can kill us spiritually. We all, myself included, go through temptaion. We all fall, but there is a difference between falling off the bridge and jumping off of it. One we do accidentally, the othe we do knowingly. We are conctantly warring with ourselves to do what is right. Our flesh always wants to feel good, so we have to get out of the idea of physical pleasure. Cause what may feel good, isn't always good for us. We have to train the body to not want to carry out the evil thoughts in our heads. For example, just because we may want to sleep with someone, doesn't mean that we should jump on them the next time we see them. We have to learn to control that and the only way we can even begin to fight the evil within us is to spend time daily in the word, in prayer, and in meditation. Spend some time first thing in the morning for God. It may require us to wake up a bit earlier, mepersonally, if I wake up in the morning I'm thanking God for the day before I get out of bed. We have to make it work out so that no matter where we are we can take the time out to ask God to help us in the war against our members.
I pray brothers and sisters, that this helps you find the tools that you need to grow. Remember at the end of it all, we have the most indept owner's manual. Why not read the directions to see what we were actually designed for. In Jesus' name, peace be with everyone.
