As believers, we want to grow spiritually, and God wants this for us too. God never leaves us without the resources we need to grow. As a loving heavenly Father, He includes clear instruction in His Word. We will look at three steps in God’s Word that will help us grow spiritually.
Receiving God’s Word with meekness is our first step to growing spiritually. Why? Meekness is the mind-set that gives us access to God’s guidance.
Psalms 25:9:
The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.
Meekness is the quality of being receptive. Being meek is reflected in a desire to learn and a willingness to change. We receive God’s Word in the sense that we look to it and desire it because it is greater than we are. We are willing to change our thinking when the Word is presented. In Acts 11, the Word was being preached in Antioch and many believed, having the meekness to change for the better.
Acts 11:21:
And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.
Meekness is not weakness. Rather, it shows strength because it takes courage and commitment to change. Moses, a leader of millions of people, was very meek. God’s Word declares that this mighty man with enormous responsibility was meeker than “all the men which were upon the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3). We, like Moses, choose to receive God’s Word with meekness because it is a first step to growing spiritually.
Retaining, or keeping, God’s Word with conviction is our second step to growing spiritually. As we retain the Word with conviction, we produce good results.
Luke 8:15:
…they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
We retain the Word by keeping it, or holding fast to it, in our mind and confessing it with our mouth. Then, we take action on the Word we are thinking and saying to ourselves.
Hebrews 10:23:
Let us hold fast the profession [confession] of our faith without wavering; (for he [God] is faithful that promised.)
Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, understood the importance of retaining God’s Word and taught this to his disciples. Look at what he said in John 15.
John 15:7:
If ye abide in me, and my words [God’s Word spoken by Jesus Christ] abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
To truly receive God’s blessings, we abide, or continue, in the Word. We retain it with conviction and live it.
Releasing God’s Word with boldness is our third step to growing spiritually. We are bold to hold forth the Word we believe and to speak it in love.
II Corinthians 4:13:
…according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken….
God’s Word spoken with believing is sure and trustworthy with the power to change the course of any situation. As we speak God’s Word, releasing it with boldness, we grow. This is God’s desire for us.
Ephesians 4:14,15:
That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.
God desires that we grow spiritually, and so do we! Let’s operate the principles of “receive, retain, release” and enjoy the benefits of fruitful spiritual growth.