It is God's will for every believer to mature spiritually, becoming more independent from spiritual mentors and learning to feed themselves with God's Word. However, how do we truly measure or know whether a person is growing in the Lord? Is it through a set of metrics and criteria being met, or a stronger revelation of Jesus Christ in their life?
How many of you have ever invested so much knowledge, advice and expertise in a leader, only to watch them fall apart after storms and trials? Frustrating, isn't it? It makes you wish that you had known whether they were truly spiritually mature enough to take on higher levels of responsibility.
God intends for us to grow. The moment we stop growing is the day that we die -- both spiritually and physically. Hebrews 6:1 says, "Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God."
But how do we really know and measure the level of spiritual growth in a believer's life?
Spiritual growth manifests in heart change
People think that to grow spiritually means seeing obvious changes in the speech, appearance and actions of a person, and while these are helpful means of partially measuring spiritual growth, it is neither all-encompassing nor accurate. Spiritual growth is inner growth.
In the latter part of Colossians 1:8, Paul writes to a relatively new church expressing prayers that God would "...fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives." Paul goes on in the next verse by saying, "...so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God."
The only way to see spiritual growth that bears fruit and grows in knowledge is a true understanding of God's will for us, made available through Jesus Christ, and a revelation of His transformational and fast-tracking power through the Holy Spirit.
Behaviour change is tricky
Basing spiritual growth only on whether a person improves his behavior can be tricky because people can still do the right things for the wrong reasons. We can serve the ministry but only with the intent of trying to buy our own sanctification. We can give generously but only with the intent of looking good.
Spiritual growth is best measured through a revelation of a person's heart. 1 Samuel 16:7 tells us, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
