The No-Shortcut Work of Spiritual Growth
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
I’ve always been a sucker for a shortcut.
Our family has an ongoing joke: I have never taken a shortcut that took time off a trip. I will take a backroad any day over an interstate. If traffic appears to be slowing down even the slightest bit, I’m looking for neighborhoods to cut through. My wife knows the worst thing is when a shortcut works because it encourages me to keep trying.
It’s not just shortcuts on trips. I appreciate anything that saves me time, and I bet you’re the same way. My days are too full with too many tasks for me not to be on the lookout for timesavers. The easiest way to get me to click on an article is to advertise a life hack or a productivity booster.
However, there are some things that even I know can’t be rushed. I like to cook, and there are some dishes that you can’t hurry. Cutting corners makes for inedible meals and an embarrassed cook. I enjoy woodworking. Shortcuts are the enemy of quality craftsmanship. So, while I am committed to identifying processes I can streamline, I know some can’t be rushed. Our maturity as Christians is one of them.
Spiritual growth is a journey with no shortcuts.
In the Bible, we are called to pursue spiritual maturity. Peter, Paul, and the author of Hebrews all admonish their audiences for not growing in their faith. God’s plan was never that His children would come to saving faith in Him and then put their faith in neutral. There is no coasting in God’s economy. We are expected (and equipped) to mature as Christ-followers. And the Bible provides us with a definition of what this looks like.
The formula for spiritual maturity isn’t a secret. It’s pretty simple. We mature as Christians when we are transformed through our knowledge of God. When we encounter God, especially through Scripture, the Holy Spirit works to grow and change us through these encounters. We grow when we read and meditate on the Word of God. We grow through prayer. We grow through worship. We grow through service. We grow through fellowship.
What do the things on that list have in common? They can’t be rushed. Inherently, they require us to make room for them. Not only do they need to be present daily, but they also need space and time to be done effectively. To be transformed by knowing God through His Word, I need to not only make time and space to read it, but I need to make time to process it. The same is true for prayer and so on. We cannot be the people God expects us to be if we don’t create room for Him to work in and through us. And yet, nothing about our lives or our culture makes this easy.
As Christ-followers, so much is riding on our commitment to growth.
First, as God’s children, we should want to be like our Father. We should desire to become like Him out of love for who He is and what He has done for us. Second, we should want to mature as Christians to be useful to God. How can we see His Kingdom break through in our homes, jobs, and communities if we aren’t maturing in our faith? But growth doesn’t happen by accident. We must commit to doing what it takes to give the process space to work.
You’ve likely heard some variation of the saying, “Spiritual growth isn’t microwave stuff. It’s crockpot stuff.” What a picture. The work that God wants to do in us takes time. It just does. So the question you and I must constantly ask ourselves is, what will it take to work against our nature and culture to intentionally make room for God to grow us?
What is your plan this week to meet God in His Word with time to read and ponder His Truth? What is your plan to consistently create space to listen to God in prayer this week? Do you have time this week for worship and contemplation of God? Are you carving out room on your calendar for meaningful conversations with fellow Christ-followers? All of these are essential to your spiritual maturity, which is, in turn, essential for becoming who God wants you to be.
Spiritual maturity doesn’t happen without intentionality. Let’s be people who commit to doing whatever it takes to make room for God to work in us, with no shortcuts.
This article originally appeared in the Good For You Newsletter, Vol: 18.
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