Spiritual Growth 101

Today we are going to have an exercise class. Some of you just had a surge of fear run through you. Some love exercise and some hate it but it’s good for us.

Today will be a spiritual exercise class. You may think why do I need to esxercise spiritually? God tells us to.

1 Timothy 4:7 The Living Bible

7 Don’t waste time arguing over foolish ideas and silly myths and legends. Spend your time and energy in the exercise of keeping spiritually fit.

It takes time and energy to be spiritually fit. Being spiritually fit means you live God more and you love people more. Consequently, the more you love the more you serve.

1 Corinthians 9:25 The Message

25 All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally.

So we are going to begin to exercise spiritually. You don’t have to wear workout clothes. But when we exercise our faith God promises that we will grow.

God is going to be our exercise coach. One of the first things a coach will do is to find out what you are doing in your training program and how you are doing it. Often a good coach will tell you that some of the things you are doing are not helpful and get you on a better plan.

JOKE: Exercise plan for those over fifty. Here’s the plan. Begin by standing on a comfortable surface where you have plenty of room on each side. With a five-pound potato sack in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your side and hold them there as long as you can. Try to reach a full minute in doing this and then relax. Each day you’ll find that you can hold this position for a little bit longer. After a couple of weeks move up to ten-pound potato sacks. Then try 50 pound potato sacks and eventually you’ll get to where you can lift a 100 pound potato sack in each hand and hold your arms straight out for more than a full minute. After you feel confident at this level, put a potato in each of the sacks.

That’s our plan, but a coach would change that. We have things we do spiritually as well. Let’s look at three.

Our way

We try to grow by our own effort.

We try to gorw on our own power… it doesn’t work.

Galatians 3:3 The Living Bible

3 Then have you gone completely crazy? For if trying to obey the Jewish laws never gave you spiritual life in the first place, why do you think that trying to obey them now will make you stronger Christians?

Trying to grow under your own strength will not work. We have a part in it for sure. But it’s not just what we do… not how many verses you can memorize.... songs you can sing… how many times you come to church…

Those things can be growth producing activities. It helps to go to church and connect with other Christians. It helps to memorize scripture. But just because I am exercising doesn’t mean I’m getting in better shape and just becaue I am exercising spiritually doesn’t mean I am growing spiritually.

We try to grow by keeping the rules.

Some of you grew up thinking that being a Christian was about following a lot of rules. Rules control behavior and a lot of time, behavior needs to be controlled. But rules don’t produce growth.

Hebrews 13:9 NCV

9 Do not let all kinds of strange teachings lead you into the wrong way. Your hearts should be strengthened by God’s grace, not by obeying rules about foods, which do not help those who obey them.

Rowboat analogy - rowing is keeping rules. Ocean liner of God’s Grace… sometimes we think about the row boat and even bring it on deck and try to row again… silly. It doesnt help. That’s what trying to earn your way to heaven by following rules is like.

The idea that rules produce growth is wrong and doesn’t work. It produces a hollow religion. Religion becomes about the religion and not about God’s grace of doing what he wants.

Often people will see a Christian and think, I can never be like that.... if that’s you…

The Christian Life is not just about following rules. The Christian Life is a life living in God’s power.

We try to grow by feeling bad.

People will often think, if I can just feel bad enough then I’ll feel better. That doesn’t even make sense, but people try it anyway. IOW, you go in the wrong direction to get going in the right direction.

In the short term, it may work. You may feel guilty enough to change your behavior, but it doesn’t last. This actually is a reason people walk away from faith… they just get tied of feeling bad.

Jesus did not die on a cross for us to be miserable.

Romans 8:34 The Living Bible

34 Who then will condemn us? Will Christ? No! For he is the one who died for us and came back to life again for us and is sitting at the place of highest honor next to God, pleading for us there in heaven.

God is not out to condemn you or me.

Romans 8:1 NLT

1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

If this is true, why do we spend so much of our time condemning ourselves? For some reason, we are wired that way. It’s easy to condemn ourselves. It’s like if we feel bad enough, we are actually better people.

You cannot guilt yourself into growth. If you look at it, our way always has a word in it… try to…

Here is what you need to do. You need to through yourself onto God’s grace.

God’s exercise program is a simple three part process. It’s simple but it’s powerful.

God’s Plan

Ephesians 4:22–24 NIV

22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Let’s look at this process.

1. Put off the Old

The old is what used to be… the good ole days… It’s the sinful habits that we have… that we cling to and don’t want to give up. It’s taking advantage of people… using people.

It’s the old and that’s what we have to put off.

Luke 5:36 NLT

36 Then Jesus gave them this illustration: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and uses it to patch an old garment. For then the new garment would be ruined, and the new patch wouldn’t even match the old garment.

It’s simple, Jesus is saying that you don’t just try to make it look better. Jesus says that you have an old way of living and you have to take it off. You don’t try to improve the old way, you get rid of it.

Too often, we know we need to get rid of these things, but we’ve actually grown comfortable with them. When you think about taking off the old habits, the old ways of relating to people, the ways of getting things done that you get done, the way you pleased yourself so that you could feel happier… they were comfortable.

It’s like the Stockholm Syndrome… Kidnappers kidnapped people and then they became friends. We have seen this over and over. Patty Hearst…

Spiritual Principle - There are spiritual things that hold you prisoner, but you have become friends with them… they are familiar and comfortable. So to take them off is taking off the familiar… whats comfortable. We know we need to get rid of these things because they are the old way of living.

Paul called these old ways of living … following the desires of your sinful nature.

Galatians 5:19–21 NLT

19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

Jesus talked about this as well.

Mark 7:21–23 NLT

21 For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. 23 All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”

Which one are you? If you think that none of those are you… write down pride. We all have our names somewhere and in multiple places on this list.

Think about it. Where do you see your life caught up in the old right now? Instead of feeling guilty about it, or trying to think differently about it, identify it, confess it to the Lord and ask him to help you take it off. But you don’t stop there, you go to the next step.

2. Put on the New

God says you don’t have to try to work to feel better, you don’t have to feel bad enough to get better, you just take off the old and put on the new. Listen to me… You do not have to deserve to put on the new… none of us do. It’s a gift. It’s called grace.

look at this…

2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

The old is gone and the new is here.

You do not have to earn this new life or achieve this new life or work for this new life. He wants to give it to you as a gift. As long as you think you’ve got to earn it you’re never going to get there because you’re never going to feel like you’ve earned it. But once you begin to receive it as a gift, that’s the change point. Once you begin to receive it as a gift you realize what God and only God can do in my life. You put on the new. You put it on as a gift.

You have to replace the old with the new. If you just take the old out of your life you leave a vacuum. A vacuum is worse that the old. Jesus said that the demons leave and go all over and come back to find the person empty and they come back worse than ever before.

That’s what happens when we try to stop doing something and don’t replace it with something new. The old habits and addictions will come back worse than ever. You have to replace the old with new. You have to put something new in place of the old habits.

If you struggle with gossip, you can’t just stop it, you stop gossiping and begin encouraging others.

Envy - You stop envying people and start giving to others. You don’t look at what they have, you look at what they don’t have that you have to give.

You stop being sexually immoral, and begin living a pure life in your relationships.

Look for the new thing that you need to replace the old thing with.

Anxiety - replace it with prayer....

You have to take off the old and familier and replace it with the new.

At first it will feel unfamiliar… it’s not what you are used to doing. However, you will and pretty soon you think you were made for the new way… which you were.

The new is not God changing your personality, but changing the direction of your life. IOW, if you are a grouch, that’s not who you really are. God wants to bring joy into your life so yo are no longer a grouch.

Colossians 3:3 NCV

3 Your old sinful self has died, and your new life is kept with Christ in God.

Our new life is with Christ in God.

The more time you spend with him, the easier this becomes because you know and love him more and more.

You may think that you have tried this and it hasn’t worked, but the third step will help.

3. We grow by renewing our minds.

Here’s what that means.

Romans 12:2 NLT

2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

He transforms us by changing the way we think. God changes our thoughts so that we begin to see things as he sees them.

If we see people the way God sees them, we will have a lot more compassion. When we don’t look at people through our own selfishness, we see them as God does and we have compassion for them.

If we could see the sin in our own lives the way God sees it, we would see how ugly it is… how it hurts those around us… how it hurst us and keeps us from God’s plan for our lives. It would be easier to let go of the old life if we could see it how God sees it.

God gives some examples of this in Ephesians.

You put off the old, put on the new, renew your mind.

Ephesians 4:25 NIV

25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.

Put off lying with .

Put on - telling the truth

Renewed thinking - The old way of thinking is that we all are on our own. The new way is that we all are members of one body.

The reason we lie is that we want to better ourselves… for our lives to go better. We are focused on ourselves. But when we realize there is a connection between us… we are part of the same body, if I hurt you through a lie, I also hurt myself. So when you relaize lying hurts you, you stop lying.

Here is another example

Ephesians 4:28 NLT

28 If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need.

Put off stealing.

Put on honest work.

Renewed thinking - You steal because you think the world owes you something. God says work so that you have something to give to others.

Ephesians 4:31–32 NLT

31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

Put off the old - anger, bitterness, rage, angry words, slander and all types of evil behavior.

Put on - be kind to each other, be tenderhearted, forgive others when they hurt you.

Changed thinking - Recognize how much Jesus has forgiven me and realize that I will never have to forgive someone else more than has been forgiven me. God will give you the strength to do that… to forgive.

We go from old to new by allowing God to change the way we think. This will occur every day as the old pops up and we have to put it off and repalce it with the new and allow God to change our thinking.

Here is the by product of what God is doing in your life through this process.

Galatians 5:22–23 NCV

22 But the Spirit produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. There is no law that says these things are wrong.

You will not be perfect, but you should be growing each day.

Are you stronger in these areas? more love? more joy? more peace? more patience? more kindness? more goodness? more faithfulness? more gentleness? more self control?

If you are, you are growing. Not perfect, but growing.

What’s something you need or want to put off?

What’s the new that will replace it?

How does God want to change your thinking about it?

example -

Old - Sarcasm… New - Satisfied… Renewed - live more grateful because of all God has given me.

You may need to talk to your spouse or someone close and let them help you see it. It takes time and it’s a life long process.

Put off the old

Put on the new

Be renewed in your mind

It will be discouraging at times because we are not perfect, but we keep working this process…

Where do I get started?

Where do I get started? Trust

We have to trust what God is doing in our lives.

Philippians 1:6 NIV

6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

The motovational power for your growth doesn’t come from you… it comes from God. He says that what he began in you he will finish. So you keep going toward what God is doing in your life. He will give you the power to do what he is asking you to do.

He will give you the power to put off the old, put on the new and to renew your mind.

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