Christian Growth

“And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.” – (2 Timothy 2:2)

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” – (2 Timothy 2:15)

“But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.” – (2 Timothy 2:23)

I believe there are a lot of factors involved in the spiritual development of a Christian; but I think 2 Timothy chapter 2 shows us three keys to Christian growth:

1  A Christian must be steadfast in his faithfulness. (v 15) When we refer to this verse, we often use it to teach that the church must be concerned about teaching the doctrines of the faith, and training the disciples of the Lord. We would certainly not dispute that those are two very important functions of the local church. However, I would like to draw attention to the fact that the teaching and the training can only be done with faithful men. When I first trusted Christ as my Saviour twenty years ago, I did not need anybody to beg me to come to church and get involved in the things of the Lord. I had a desire on the inside to grow and serve. I certainly was not perfect by any means, but I was faithful. I just needed somebody to show me the way. We often blame the church for not teaching and training as it should, but I believe that if there is a hungry soul out there in the pew, that there God will supply someone to train them. The bottom line to this point is that if you are going to grow in the Lord, you have to stay faithful and thirsty for the things of God.

2  A Christian must be studious.  Studying is a lot of work, and it must be done on purpose. If spiritual growth is going to take place in the life of a believer, he must diligently apply himself to being a student of the Bible. Obviously, this will include attending all of the services and studies in the local church, but it also means that personal reading, meditation, and study must be done on a daily basis.

3  A Christian must not get sidetracked. On the surface this may not seem too important, but I have seen more Christians go down the tubes because of this than anything else. Lack of study will cause a slow and steady decline in growth, but getting sidetracked will bring about a swift demise. What do I mean by getting sidetracked? Well, it could mean getting distracted by something in the world, but it also often happens because the believer starts pursuing one particular issue of the faith. They become a one-issue Christian, and by doing so they lose balance, and balance is important to Christian growth. Paul said that he declared “all the counsel of God”. People who lose balance tend to major on minor issues and thereby lose sight of the bigger picture. They can become argumentative in their support of their pet issue. Be careful that you don’t get sidetracked.

It ought to be the goal of every Christian to continue to grow spiritually until the Lord takes him home to Heaven. By observing these three keys, you will find that growth will come slowly and steadily , which will result in a more effective and fruitful ministry for the Lord.