The Simplest Hack to Mature in Your Faith
This week I will be celebrating my 30th birthday with the Lord! He saved me out of the mud and mire when I was 18 years old, and even though I feel I am galaxies away from where I should be spiritually, it’s been so encouraging to turn my focus towards all the incredible ways that He has shown his faithfulness to me over the decades. Halleluya!
One realization I’ve had lately is so simple that I’m embarrassed to confess that I’d never thought of it before. It’s the obvious truth for a robust, God-centred, vibrant life in the Lord! And here it is…the simplest hack to mature in your faith:
Feed yourself!
When you were a baby in the Faith, as with all human infants, you needed to be fed. And not just with any food, but with milk (1 Peter 2:2). You could not digest complicated, scholarly, or involved theology. The milk of the word would come in the form of an older believer discipling you, a pastor’s Sunday preaching, or attending studies where you could wash down the foundations needed to build a solid walk with the Lord.
This step is so necessary, and is usually a very precious time that believers look back to as the time they got to know their “first love.”
These basic truths and tennets of the Scriptures nourished your soul and led you to maturity, until you could consume ‘meat.’
… for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.
Hebrews 5:13
Once the spiritual child is weaned, though, the danger for many Christians is that they can get used to passively being fed, and avoid the transition to when they should start feeding themselves.
What does feeding yourself entail?
It requires actively seeking time, finding methods, and creating spiritual disciplines to intentionally nourish yourself in the Living Word.
Here are 9 ideas:
Making time each day to read and meditate on the Bible.
Consciously chewing on His Truth by memorizing Scripture, and applying it to daily life.
Studying the Bible in depth (I use Precept upon Precept, which is the Inductive Bible Study method).
Spending time praying for your spiritual growth and for the needs of others in your life.
Finding God-fearing, faithful men and women to continually disciple you in God’s Word.
Regularly tuning in to excellent, edifying, and convicting sermons to listen to on the internet (my absolute favourite is Dr. Steve Lawson).
Choosing friends who will counsel you wisely, encourage your heart, and be an example to you in their zeal for God.
Journaling to the Lord, sharing with Him your heart, acknowledging His workings in your life, and seeking His help and counsel.
Reading solid Christian books that will spur you on in your faith.
Soaking yourself in these practices to grow yourself continually.
I’d highly recommend an excellent book titled, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, that will be instrumental in training, motivating, and encouraging you to feed yourself.
