What does it mean to grow spiritually? Really. What does it mean? Have you thought about it? Does it mean going to church more? Does it mean giving money to the poor? Does it mean noticing beauty in the world? Does it mean hugging trees or caring for the environment? Does it mean rejecting negative energy, or playing with crystals, or seeing someone’s aura? Does it mean disappearing into self? Or does it mean the opposite, as some of those who pursue psychedelic substances argue when they say that growing spiritually is the result of dissolving one's ego as the self is lost in the ecstasy of an altered state of consciousness?
Perhaps we can get an idea just by examining the word “growth.” The word simply means to evolve or change toward maturity. So spiritual growth is an evolution toward spiritual maturity. That answer, however, leads us to another question: what is maturity? Well, maturity is when an organism has reached its peak state of growth. When that occurs, it means that it is able to produce fruit. When tomato plants reach maturity, they produce tomatoes. Prior to maturity they don’t. So spiritual growth is an evolution toward spiritual maturity in which a person is continually changing toward a state of fruitfulness. James calls this condition “perfect and complete” (James 1:3-4, greek interlinear for perfect and complete). What he means by that is that the trials of life bring the believer to a place of spiritual maturity or completeness where fruits like patience and steadfastness are evident. But then what does the word “spiritual” mean? The spirit is the life force breathed into us by God when we are created (Genesis 2:7, Hebrew Interlinear). When man sinned, our fleshly bodies became dominant and dead to the spirit of God. Spiritual maturity is regrowing the presence of that spirit in ourselves, and that spirit becomes dominant, complete, and produces spiritual fruit.
Paul expresses the same idea when he talks about spiritual fruit in Galatians. First he argues that the mature animal bodies which we inhabit are corrupted and prone to envy, hatred, jealousy, immorality, rage and all manner of unhealthy negativity (Galatians 5:16-17). But those bodies can be restrained and governed by walking in the spirit, and allowing God to grow in us. When our animal natures are governed by God’s spirit, then we produce fruits like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self control (Galatians 5:22-23). We behave differently because what controls us becomes different. What was dead to God is now alive, and we naturally walk like God would want us to walk. We become altogether new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17).
How do you grow yourself spiritually? The same way that you grow a garden. YOU don’t actually grow it. God does. However, you can encourage growth. How? You plant good seeds. You pull weeds. You fertilize. You water. You cultivate. You control and eliminate pests. You prune branches that don’t produce fruit. You stay planted among crops that allow you to pollinate. You get enough sonlight.
So what does it mean to grow spiritually? It means to orient yourself toward God, and to cultivate the fruits of the spirit in your life as the spirit of his Son grows inside of you (2 Peter 5-8).
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