Three Things Needed for Spiritual Growth
- Jonathan Freed
- Oct 22
- 6 min read
As a worship pastor, it is a great desire for me to see our congregation grow and flourish as Christ leads His church. If we want to see passionate worship in the hearts and lives of our people, we must first be growing daily in our walk with the Lord.
“Spiritual growth” is a phrase that can be used a lot and, to be honest, is very vague. I would guess that it is something we all would want but might not know how to do. I hope to give and explain three things needed for every believer’s spiritual growth. My prayer is that these three things will bring you closer to Christ and His church and, in turn, produce passionate worshipers who glorify God above all else.
The Importance of Spiritual Growth
Spiritual growth is vitally important in the life of a believer. If Jesus offers us “living water” (John 4), then just like the tree from Psalm 1, which has its roots planted deep into these waters, we too should be seeing our branches growing strong with influence and our fruit growing in season with abundance so that those who taste it will be satisfied with Christ’s love.
John Maxwell says this: “The passing of time guarantees that we will get older, but it doesn’t guarantee that we will get better.” Truer words have never been spoken. We all can see and feel the slow passage of time in our own lives. Our hair seems to change color or, heaven forbid, fall out. Our metabolism isn’t quite what it used to be (even though our appetites seem to get bigger—go figure!). Our kids jump from 1st grade to 8th to graduating in a heartbeat.
In all these things that are unavoidable, there is one question we need to ask: Are we continuing to grow closer to Christ with each passing day, month, season, and year?
Three Key Points to Remember in Our Spiritual Growth Journey
We must know the Source.
We must stay connected to the Source.
We must move forward in faithful obedience.
1. Know the Source
In order to grow, we must know where we are going and how to get there. Have you ever been lost? It can be a very frustrating experience to drive around—maybe even being late to some engagement—not knowing where you are and trying to trace back to where you got off track. Being lost can make us feel scared, unsure of ourselves, frustrated, and even angry.
Praise God that we have the most complete, most helpful roadmap to life: the Word. This Word isn’t merely words on a page that we can use as a literal map like in the movie National Treasure. No, it’s much more than that. It’s Jesus Himself who is the Source we need to be connected to and know.
John 1:1–2 says this: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”
This Word is the message—the gospel—that is woven all through Scripture. This Word is Jesus Himself.
Have you ever wondered how our worship on Sundays helps us to know God better? Absolutely, the preaching of the Word greatly helps us understand the depths of Christ’s love for us, but even the songs we sing teach us about the message of Christ:
“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.”(Colossians 3:16)
So, as we sing, it’s not only an expression of gratitude but an intentional time to teach each other as we declare the gospel in expressions of praise.
How Do We “Let the Message of Christ Dwell Among Us” After We Leave the Church Service?
Put simply: journaling through the Bible daily.
I truly don’t believe it’s enough to simply read the Bible. We must have a desire to understand it correctly and journal through it by writing out our thoughts and prayers. In other words, we must treat it like it’s alive!
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”(Hebrews 4:12)
Whenever you journal, make it your goal to answer these two questions:
What does this Scripture tell me about God and His character?
How can I apply that knowledge to my current life situation?
2. Stay Connected to the Source
In the book A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, author Phillip Keller says this:
“In the Christian life, it is of more than passing significance to observe that those who are often the most serene, most confident, and able to cope with life’s complexities are those who rise early each day to feed on God’s Word.”
He goes on to say,
“The biographies of the great men and women of God repeatedly point out how the secret of their success in the spiritual life was attributed to the ‘quiet time’ of each morning.”
It’s not enough to just know who Jesus is—we must stay connected to the Source, desiring to spend time in the presence of our Creator. King David paints this picture in his famous 23rd Psalm. In it, he describes the intimate relationship between the Shepherd and the sheep:
He leads me beside quiet waters,He refreshes my soul.He guides me along the right pathsfor His name’s sake.
I know what you might be thinking at this point:
“I get it, I know that I need to be connected to the Living Water, but whenever I try to get into a habit of reading my Bible or praying, I always fall short, get discouraged, and stop—only to try again a few months later.”
It’s an all-too-familiar pattern we can all fall into. No one is immune. But have you ever taken time to consider that the sheep in Psalm 23 aren’t alone? They aren’t individuals that the Shepherd takes care of one at a time—they are always together!
Yes, the Shepherd would absolutely spend time one-on-one with the sheep, healing their wounds and taking care of them, but that was all within the herd. It is dangerous when the sheep wander alone, and it’s dangerous when we wander alone.
Our relationships with the body of Christ are vital for our spiritual growth.
“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”(Proverbs 27:17)
Nathan was used in David’s life to hold him accountable in his sin, which led to repentance and growth. We also need those people in our lives—to hold us accountable, to help us grow, to encourage us along the way.
If you aren’t a part of the many groups we offer at RFBC or a Discipleship Group, there’s no better recommendation I can give you for a practical step toward your spiritual growth. Maybe God is calling you to walk in obedience in this area.
3. Walking Forward in Faithful Obedience
The third way we grow spiritually is by putting what we are learning from God and His Word into practice.
One of my favorite stories of faith in the Bible might be a little unexpected—it’s when Jesus turns water into wine.
In the story, the wedding hosts made a major mistake—either on how much wine they needed to last the entire celebration or by misjudging the number of people who attended. Either way, they ran out of wine, and this was a major faux pas.
This was Jesus’ first miracle, and in it, we see Him doing something that is common throughout most of His earthly ministry—letting the servants, the “least of these,” or the outcasts in on what He was doing and allowing them to experience Jesus firsthand.
“Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water’; so they filled them to the brim. Then He told them, ‘Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.’ They did so.”(John 2:7–8)
They didn’t just fill the jars halfway, or three-quarters, or even mostly full—but “to the brim.” What faith they had placed in Jesus—not knowing how He would come through, but having faith that He would.
They not only filled the jars to the brim, but they were obedient and took some to the master of the banquet. At this point, it isn’t clear if the water had turned into wine or even if it tasted good or bad. In their uncertainty, they still stepped forward in faith.
What a reward they experienced when Jesus’ Word was found true! What a reward we can have when we step forward, simply trusting in what the Word tells us.
Are you? Am I stepping out in faithful obedience today? Do we have “to the brim” faith?
If we want to see spiritual growth in our lives, we must walk forward—out of our comfort zone—in faithful obedience wherever God is calling us.
Empty Hands, Full Faith
I like to look at faith as coming to God with empty and open hands—knowing that there is nothing we can bring Him but our willingness to obey His perfect plan. Praise God for His redemptive work in our lives through the cross of Christ!
In our weakness, He is made strong! As we grow spiritually, a good indication of how far we’ve come is Him being made more and us being made less.(John 3:30)
-Pastor Jonathan Freed
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