No genuine reborn Christian is fully content with where he or she currently is spiritually.
No connivin', frettin', overworkin', manipulations, pressuring, or frustrations. No ringing of the hands in anxious worry.
What are Germans like? It's amazing how many things in this corrupt world I want to see quickly fixed (unlike most people in DC), but a lot of times God has other things for me to be involved in fixing. So I choose to be content and express gratitude.
Do you talk about the blessings you are really grateful for more than you talk about the things that irk you and you strongly desire to see fixed?
"Therefore, confess your sins to one another [your false steps, your offenses], and pray for one another, that you may be healed and restored. The heartfelt and persistent prayer of a righteous man (believer) can accomplish much when put into action and made effective by God—it is dynamic and can have tremendous power." James 5:16
Abiding in the Spirit > Striving in the Flesh
Praying without ceasing > Ceasing to pray
If there is no appropriate wise application of biblical principles (timing matters), how will you grow it all spiritually, Believer? We want to enjoy communion with our Lord In fellowship with his family. We desire to follow Jesus real close according to God's word (all of us can improve in this area) and simply please the Lord. Earnestly seeking the Lord is necessary each day. No believer ever outgrows that discipline while here.
We will pray for all we meet (the Lord sees what they could become as we should too), and enjoy being around open sinners. Yep, gladly, but we don't enjoy long hanging around with, wasting precious hours with hard-hearted, recalcitant, closed-minded, non-repentant, proud folk who could give a flip about eternity.
There is a hoch-nassig religious snootiness that we don't like to be around either. Our off minutes are too valuable!
Do you suffer fools gladly? Why? Jesus was indeed a friend of sinners but he did a whole lot of walking away. Check it out in the book... how many times?
Are you spiritually aggressive and a good sort of way because you want to be a worshiper, because you want to be a soul winner, because you want God to disciple Believers through you? Or are you lukewarm and passive making no impact in this world? The devil never minds that type of person. How much real spiritual opposition do you see them coming into? I'm not talking about false opposition some believers think it's real.
The closer we walk with Christ, the more clearly we see how much we still need Him. The light of the Holy Spirit does not flatter us—it exposes us, refines us, humbles us, and steadily shapes us into the likeness of Jesus Christ. A spiritually healthy believer does not say, “I have arrived.” He says, “Lord, keep changing me.”
That is why Peter exhorted believers to “long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation” (1 Peter 2:2). Newborn babies cry because they know they are needy. In the same way, spiritually alive people hunger for Scripture because they know they cannot survive without God speaking to them. A dull appetite for the Word is never a sign of maturity. Deepening hunger for truth is.
Believer you're probably either in a trial, entering a trial, or exiting a trial.. but be encouraged and keep going. I'm here to encourage you if you stumbled or fallen. Get back up, keep walking, keep pursuing Jesus and his will for you, keep seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.
The Apostle Paul embodied this holy dissatisfaction. Though he was one of the greatest missionaries and theologians in church history, he still called himself “the chief of sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). He openly groaned over the battle with remaining sin: “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24). The stronger his grasp of God’s holiness became, the more aware he was of his own weakness.
Yet Paul was not defeated by that struggle—he was driven by it toward Christ. He wrote:
«“But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ” (Philippians 3:7).»
Everything this world applauds—status, achievement, reputation, self-righteousness—Paul threw onto the trash heap compared to knowing Jesus. His life had one blazing ambition: to know Christ more deeply, love Him more passionately, and become more like Him daily.
“Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect... but I press on” (Philippians 3:12).
That is the cry of every growing Christian. Real believers do not coast spiritually. They pursue Christ. They stumble, repent, rise again, and keep running toward the Savior.
The late missionary Amy Carmichael once wrote, “If I am not willing to be broken of my will, I am not ready for the kingdom of heaven.” Sanctification is precisely that kind of breaking. God lovingly dismantles our pride, self-reliance, worldliness, and hidden idols so Christ may be formed in us.
Paul carried that burden not only for himself, but for the church. He told the Galatians, “My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you” (Galatians 4:19). Faithful shepherds do not merely entertain crowds or stroke egos. They lovingly point people toward holiness. A true pastor does not simply tell people they are wonderful just as they are. He reminds them that while God loves His children completely, He also calls them continually to repentance, growth, obedience, and transformation.
Much of modern Christianity has traded sanctification for self-esteem. Some pulpits promise comfort without repentance, blessing without holiness, and success without surrender. But Scripture never calls believers to admire themselves. It calls them to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Christ (Luke 9:23).
The church does not need more motivational speeches baptized with Bible verses. It needs Spirit-filled truth that convicts hearts, renews minds, and awakens holiness.
Charles Spurgeon wisely said, “The nearer a man lives to God, the more intensely has he to mourn over his own evil heart.” That is not spiritual misery; it is spiritual clarity.
True sanctification always drives believers back to Scripture. We do not grow through mystical impressions, emotional hype, vague spirituality, dreams, or inner voices detached from God’s Word. We grow through the Spirit of God applying the truth of God to the people of God.
“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth” (John 17:17).
Real spiritual maturity is not measured by emotional intensity but by increasing biblical understanding and obedience. As our theology deepens, our worship deepens too. The more clearly we see God in Scripture, the more passionately we adore Him.
Cold doctrine is unhealthy. But emotionalism without doctrine is dangerous. God intends truth and affection to walk hand in hand.
The psalmist declared:
«“Oh how I love Your law!” (Psalm 119:97)»
Notice he did not merely study God’s truth intellectually; he delighted in it personally. Mature believers do not treat the Bible like dry information. They treasure it like starving men treasure bread.
One reason faithful pastors’ conferences are often marked by thunderous singing is because truth fuels worship. When hearts are gripped by the gospel, worship stops being passive. Men and women sing as rescued sinners overwhelmed by grace.
As the old hymn says:
«“My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.”»
That is the sound of sanctification.
Spiritual growth also produces a deeper love for God Himself. The more we know Him through His Word, the more we stand amazed at His holiness, mercy, patience, sovereignty, and kindness. Shallow Scripture intake produces shallow affection for God. But when believers meditate deeply on His truth, love for Him catches fire.
A.W. Tozer wrote, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” Right thinking about God shapes right living before God.
Growing believers also develop stronger faith. Trials no longer completely unravel them because they increasingly trust the character of God. Many mature Christians facing terminal illness do not first ask for escape—they ask that Christ would be glorified through their suffering. That kind of faith is not manufactured overnight. It is forged slowly through years of clinging to Scripture in both sunshine and storm.
The world panics because it has no anchor. The believer rests because Christ holds the anchor.
Isaac Watts captured this beautifully:
«“When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died…”»
The cross steadies trembling hearts.
Another mark of spiritual growth is consistent obedience. The Apostle John wrote:
«“By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments” (1 John 2:3).»
Obedience does not save us, but it reveals that Christ is truly changing us. Genuine faith produces visible fruit. As believers mature, their speech, priorities, attitudes, relationships, and private lives increasingly reflect Jesus Christ.
Sanctification is not sinless perfection on earth. It is progressive transformation. The direction of the believer’s life changes. He fights sin rather than making peace with it. He grieves over disobedience instead of celebrating it. He increasingly desires what honors God.
Research from the Barna Group has repeatedly shown that many who identify as Christians rarely read Scripture consistently. Yet spiritual weakness should not surprise us when biblical intake is neglected. A starving soul cannot grow strong. D.L. Moody once said, “The Bible was not given for our information but for our transformation.”
And transformation is exactly what God desires.
The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to make the child of God more like the Son of God.
So the question is not merely whether we attend church, know Christian vocabulary, or claim a belief system. The question is: Are we growing?
Are we increasing in biblical understanding?
Are we growing in love for Christ?
Are we stronger in faith during suffering?
Are we becoming more obedient?
Are we more humble, more repentant, more holy, more heavenly minded?
Paul said, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14). Every true believer says the same.
The Christian life is not spiritual stagnation—it is a Spirit-empowered pursuit of Christ. We have not arrived. But by God’s grace, we press forward.
And one day, the painful war with sin will end forever.
“We shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is” (1 John 3:2). KnowGod.org
