Growing in God doesn't happen automatically. Many beloved brothers and sisters think that since they've been in church for a long time, perhaps even from childhood, they've already grown mature. Age is not an accurate guide: we can be a Christian for many years and yet still remain a baby in the faith.
The writer to the Hebrews says it precisely, saying:
"For though by now you should be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God and have come to need milk rather than solid food." (Hebrews 5:12)
We could be just like that: a people who should be mature already, but we aren't. According to ESV.org, the writer was addressing a people who became "less attentive to Christian instruction" and have "ceased regular attendance at their meetings" despite their faithfulness to Christ in the past (see Hebrews 5:11-14, 10:25, 10:32-34).
This implies that even faithful Christians can fail to progress in their growth in the faith. Anybody can remain a baby Christian, but not all grow to be mature Christians – and this owing to their own choices.
Do you want to grow in faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? I want to help you. I am not perfectly mature yet either, but I am excited to grow with each day, and would like to invite you to journey with me into growth in Christ.
Here are some things we can do to help ourselves grow in the Lord Jesus Christ.
1) Diligently seek to know the truth through God's Word
In Acts 17 we find a group of Berean Christians, who were a people lauded for their daily habit of searching the Word of God for truth that would confirm what the apostles preached.
"The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with all eagerness, daily examining the Scriptures, to find out if these things were so." (Acts 17:10-11)
2) Be molded by the Word of God
The Word of God is more than just a message of salvation to all who are sinners; it's also a guidebook that will help the saved be transformed into the likeness of Christ. We need to let ourselves be molded by the Word of God so we may be "complete" just like Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
"All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."
3) Follow the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit that God put inside us causes us to grow and bear fruit. It is Him who makes us want to pursue Christ, and empowers us to produce His fruits in our lives. When we follow His lead, we allow Him to mold us and make us grow in the faith.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control; against such there is no law. Those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." (Galatians 5:22-25)
