Christian Foundations

In the first part of this our First series, we stopped to consider that our Creator wants us to grow.  Not only grown but to be ‘born again’.  For all of us it means a ‘refining process’.  Sure the whole package is ‘signed, sealed and delivered’ as we are already perfect in Jesus … but there’s still that ‘experiential’ part that means we live out the ‘still being made perfect’ through His work.

In part 2 of Series #1, we’ll look at some of the barriers that stop this change and growth and how important our motivation really is.  Then we’ll jump into learning how to promote our own growth into His kingdom. 

Part two:

Some Barriers that Stop People from Change and Growth:

Someone once said that we were “Created Perfect, Tragically Broken and in need of saving, Lovingly Restored!”  What does this mean?  It’s the whole message from God in a nutshell.  We were created perfect, in the perfection of the Garden of Eden.  Until …. a small lie crept into the Garden and Adam and Eve gave into their real heart’s desire … to be like God.

… but that’s not the end of the story.  Cretor God loved you and I so much that He broke through the bounds of time and space, was born in that far away place called Bethlehem so that we could come back to Him.  He paid the pride.  Now what do we do?

It’s Often About our real Motivation to grow and change and grow!

If you were offered a million dollars to learn to play the guitar, could you?  Would you?  We don’t learn new ways without enough motivation, priority or inspiration.  So why don’t we grow more?  Are we willing to be willing to grow?  So the question is are we relunctant or resistant to change and growth?

1. The Reluctant Will has misgivings about change.  It struggles with the ambiguity between wanting growth and the willingness to pay the price for any growth to happen.
2. The Resistant will fears the pain required to bring about growth.  This may be due to a lack of trust in God’s love, irrational fears or past hurts…. or it may be a pride issue.
3. Numerous frustrating situations where we tried to grow and failed may lead to Inertia.

People who Struggle the Most with Motivation for Growth:

1. The Fearful – Their focus is on the unknown, fear of failure, “what if” thinking, “Will others approve?”
2. The Prideful – no need to change or do anything; have a self-centred view,  “I’m doing alright so why change?”
3. Those with wrong doctrinal Beliefs – Everything is already finished, why do I have to grow and be refined in my faith?  “All my change happened when I accepted Jesus.”
4. Those caught in Rational, logical mindsets – their world is set in logical ruts of thinking; what they see, hear or touch is their reality.
5. Those who have Judged themselves as unworthy of receiving from God,  “I am so bad, even God wouldn’t help with my growth and change.”

2. Know the difference between Conviction and Worldly Sorrow!

There are some ways that Jesus is not our model.  He was sinless, and so He never came under the conviction of sin and had to repent.  We are sinful (1 John 1:8) and need to allow the Holy Spirit to convict us (John 16:8).  We are in constant need of confession and repentance (1 John 1:9, Acts 2:38).

1. a.  The story of ‘Ben’ and his lust for Pepsi.
2. b.  ‘Andrew’ and his need to lose weight
3. c.  What is the difference between Ben’s approach to change and Andrew?

2 Corinthians 7:11 tells us that Godly sorrow leads us to repentance and Life.  Worldly sorrow only makes us sad that we ‘got caught’ or that we are in so much pain.  It leads to ‘death’ (separation from God).

3.  God honours our Free Will, Matthew 19:21&22

We need a free will to make healthy, lasting choices.  The Growth Journey is about being changed into the image of Jesus, and that often involves cleaning up the past.

We are designed with a ‘God shaped’ hole in our heart that only Jesus matches.  We don’t need to try to earn His goodness or try to match His expectation of us in legalistic ways.  It’s not about keeping a law; it is about grace and growth in Him.

Remember to hold onto the Seed long enough for it to Grow.

Remember:  “If you always do what you’ve always done …….. then you’ll always get what you’ve always got!”

 

How to Shape your own Growth:

1.  Personal growth is not about being Perfect!

We will never be Perfect outside of Jesus’ Work for us.

“The New Birth therefore is not a change of nature as it is some-times defined; it is rather the communication of the Divine Nature  ‘Born from above’ is … NOT our natural life carried up to its highest point of attainment but the Divine Life brought down to … the heart of fallen mankind.

“It is the constant dream and delusion that they could rise to heaven by development and improvement of their natural life.  Jesus by one stroke of revelation destroys this hope.  His message tells us that only when we are begotten from above, can we see His kingdom.” ⁵

We could lock the door and send out for pizza and work on being cleaned up for the next ten years and …. guess what?  We would still have mountains of stuff to deal with!  That is the ‘old nature’; we will never be perfect, outside of Jesus.  After those ten years, Father God wouldn’t love us any more  …… or if we died in the next 10 minutes, He wouldn’t love us any less.

 

Refining isn’t about getting Perfect and ‘earning’ God’s love!  If we could have reached perfection alone, we would not have needed Jesus.  We don’t have to scrub off every bit of dirt so that we can be more acceptable to Father God.  Healthy Biblical growth comes out of relationship with Jesus Christ.  Boiled down to simple terms, all we need to do is hear and obey.

2. Unrealistic Expectations Can hinder our ability to follow Jesus.

 

1 Cor. 4:3-4 “I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed I do not even judge myself.  My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent.  It is the Lord who judges me.”

What measuring stick are you using?  Are you competing with other’s apparent glowing progress?  Your own unreal expectations?  Other’s religious judgements on you?  Remember, we are all ‘blind’ and don’t know what we are doing (Luke 23:34)

 

1. a.  Walking by Faith is Meant to be Simple.  “Following Jesus simply means learning from Him how to arrange my life around the activities that enable me to live in the fruit of the spirit.” 3
2. b.  Persistence pays off.  Growth requires the conviction of the Holy Spirit, determination, dedication and small, consistent steps (Is. 28:10) to get there.

 

 

3.  We need to Promote our Own Growth.

Ever heard the saying:   “You don’t repair the roof in the middle of the storm.”

Determine to work on your relationship with Father God.  Learn to hear and obey His voice in the quiet, peaceful times.  Then when the cyclone hits, you are ready to follow Him through the storm to the eye of the hurricane.  In order to grow up, we must first give up.

4.  Learn to Use Prayer First.

James 5:16:  “Therefore confess your sins one to another and pray for each other so that you may be healed.  The prayer of a righteous man (or woman) is powerful and effective.”

Get your Growth group to pray for you.  Put your ‘faith muscles’ into action and ask for prayer for the aches and pains of life, before you reach for the aspirin or contact the doctor.

5.  Be a partner with God in your growth.

1. a.  God doesn’t do for us what we can do for ourselves.  Participate in your own growth; it doesn’t just happen.  Choose to see things as God does, Col. 3:1-4, 10.
2. b.  Some people use a logical, rational approach: “If it’s not broke, you don’t need to fix it.”  However, like any plant, you need to water, encourage and look after growth to have growth continue.
3. c.  Learn how to care for yourself in the midst of change so that growth can happen.  Not all change is growth.

6.  Learn the Power of Creating Daily Rituals

“Spiritual discipline: any activity that can help me gain power to live life as Jesus taught and modelled it.” ⁶

 

1. a.  Always begin with what the Holy Spirit is convicting you about!  Do not respond to condemnation (Rom. 8:1) but focus on the ‘God principle’:
2. b.  Let Jesus help you develop precise, concrete, achievable and realistic goals.  “I’ll read 14 chapters of the Bible each day because I feel condemned that I am not reading enough of His word.”  Set small goals you can achieve.

steps get us to Mount Everest.  Learn to relax in His presence.

1. d.  Focus on one change at a time.  It takes more than 6 weeks for a new habit to replace an old pattern.
2. e.  Expect relapses, especially in dealing with long standing addictions or self-sabotage thinking systems.
3. f.  Create an environment that supports change.  Be with people who are growing in the Lordship of Jesus.
4. g.  Create accountability and feedback by using a prayer journal, a prayer partner, a support group, etc.
5. h.  Establish Daily Rituals such as:

     Daily prayer, praying in tongues for a length of time, being part of a Growth group, reading your Bible daily (the complete text over the year), being accountable to a prayer triplet, attending a weekly Celebration at Crossway, etc.

 

In Conclusion:

Remember, Jesus not only wants the destination of good personal growth, but He also wants to walk the journey with us.  Surrendering to God is an important principle, rather than being pushed and pulled by self-effort or other’s advice.

Tags: Christian growth, part 2, Series #1
Filed under: Foundations of our Faith, Series #1: Being a Jesus Follower