Christians should grow in faith as a baby grows up to become an adult. They should go through the levels of 'little children,' 'children,' and 'young men' and finally attain to the measure of stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ (1 John 2:12-14; Ephesians 4:13). If you feel your growth stop, there must be a reason. Now let's check three points and grow quickly by the strength of the Holy Spirit.
POINT 1. Restore Your First Love
If your spiritual growth seems to stop, you need to check whether you love the Lord with your first love. Revelation 2:3-5 tells you to remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first.
Some may think they spend more than 90 percent of their lives on the works of the Lord. They seem to love God foremost of all. Here, they should think about their first love. When they loved the Lord with fullness of their first love, their heart must have been 100 percent filled with the Lord. They were excited to go to church, tried to gather with brothers and sisters in Christ, and felt so happy anywhere no matter what they did because of the love for the Lord.
But when one loses his first love for the Lord, untruths come into his mind. He feels bored with listening to the sermon that used to be so sweet like honeycomb. He may start to take worldly things and become lazy about leading a believing life saying he is busy studying or working.
If you are full of the grace of your first love for the Lord, you can do everything well in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. To offer up your heart to the Lord 100% means that you have the Lord in your heart all the time whatever you do.
POINT 2. Go Back to the Basics of Faith
The basics of faith refer to worship services and prayer. No matter how long you have led a Christian life, you need to check how much the Word of God has been cultivated in your heart through obedience.
Some people neglect worship services and prayer while they devote themselves to church activities and volunteer works.
Only when you offer up worship services properly can you lead a proper believing life. If you worship in tiredness or idle thoughts, you cannot listen to the message preached and then you cannot receive strength to change. Nevertheless, some of you still think you are faithful to the works of God and you have no problem. This causes you to fail in keeping the basics.
The work for God could be different from the will of God. If you do not fill yourself with spiritual things, although you do many works of God, you may still feel empty. If you fulfill your duty well but don't circumcise your heart, it is not the will of God. It may give you a feeling of fleshly fullness for a moment.
If you think you worked for God faithfully, you should check if you really did it in the will of God or not.
Moreover, you should check yourself in your family. When you show a good example in family, other family members can lead proper Christian lives. You should keep consistent attitudes both in church and at home. When your family members live proper believing lives and offer up proper worship services and prayer, you can say you have laid a firm foundation of faith.
POINT 3. Recover the Image of God
Man was created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). After the first man Adam sinned by disobeying, sins came into the world. Since then, the enemy Satan instigated people to take in fleshly things and like the world. Although sin is dirty, Satan made people feel good about it and the world.
If we understand the will and heart of God by listening to the sermon during worship services, we come to hate sins and desire to live by the Word of God in His grace. We pray not by coercion, but in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Then, we can realize evil in us and receive the grace to cast away sins. This is how a true Christian life works. If you understand the true meaning of this believing life, the Holy Spirit will give you comfort and joy. Then, you can lead a happy Christian life.
God wants His beloved children to grow in faith, recover the lost image of God, and achieve the heart of the Lord. It is the purpose of a believing life.
Therefore, we must run towards the full measure of Christ without break. We should try to find out our shortcomings based on the Word of God and unceasingly run toward perfectness. Then, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can become sanctified and faithful in all aspects, and thereby can enter New Jerusalem.
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