Lies we believe about Growth

A lie is a misconception. It is incorrect and not true. Growth is something that we were made to do. Growth is a natural process. Growth is part of life. Growth is a principle. We were designed to grow because that’s how God made things work.

We often believe “We will never again have pain and difficulty.” Because of our pride and our insecurities, we don’t like to admit that we don’t have it all together. The reality is everyone has problems. If you don’t think you have problems, then that’s a problem! And you’re in denial. Our problems, struggles and pain help us grow. No one grows to maturity who does not understand pain and suffering. Pain is good when it leads somewhere. Pain is good when we learn from it and it results in growth & maturity. Pain is bad when we don’t learn from it and we continue to repeat old patterns. “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” (2Corinthians 4:8). The world measures success differently than God does. Success in God’s Kingdom is about the condition of heart, not the size of your bank account. For God to do surgery on our hearts requires humbleness on our part.

For us to grow, we need people that we can relate to. We need to talk about how we feel. How we feel about ourselves is a large part of how we are viewed by others, especially our parents. We focus on our feelings in meaningful, honest connections. How you feel about yourself is the key to using your talents and releasing your potential. Paul speaks about his own weaknesses in the letter to the church at Corinth: “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But HE said to me, ‘MY grace is sufficient for you, for MY power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. When I am weak, then I am strong” (2Corinthians 12:8-10.) The spirit is strong but the flesh is weak. We have been given power and authority in the name Jesus and that power is available in us and through us from the Spirit of God, enabled through grace.

Next we often believe “We will never sin again.” The Bible tells us we are going to fail. We can learn from failure which leads to growth. “A righteous man falls seven times, he rises again” (Proverbs 24:16).People usually only look at what’s on the outside: they see our failures. God sees the heart. As long as we are being honest, God will work with us. The Bible never tells us it’s going to be easy. But it does say “all things are possible through Christ who strengthens us.”

Growth is a natural process. We are to work out our righteousness. “You have been Set Free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness” (Romans 6:18). “Whom the Son sets free, is free indeed.” In the book of Psalms it says “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” We are made up of three parts: body, soul, and spirit. The soul is made up also of three parts: mind, will, and emotions. Romans 12:2 says to renew the mind. But we also need to renew the will by making good choices that line up with God’s will for our lives. We can make a choice whether to sin or not. Again Jesus shows us the perfect way: “Not my will, but your will be done.” The righteousness of Christ in us is the process of working out the sin in us. “Seek first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). The Kingdom of God is His ways, a natural process, and how things work. Righteousness is the hard work and discipline that it takes to deal with reality of our sinful nature.

God’s Word says where we stand: You are more than a Conqueror. God is committed to the task of conforming each of us inwardly: in character, in patience, in gentleness, in goodness, in discipline, and in grace & truth. (See Romans 8:29.) But where there is no pain, there is no gain. God is more interested in our character than He is in our comfort. God allows us to go through things to take us from glory to glory. The Bible says you have Future Glory: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). God builds strength of character in us, through our struggles and problems. ”And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast” (1Peter 5:10.) For life to work right, we have to discover and align ourselves to God’s ways to get out of our suffering. We must allow God to develop in us an internal capacity and integrity of character to deal with whatever the situation or circumstance calls for.    

When we humble ourselves and seek Him with all that we are, we grow. We must face the truth about ourselves in the present, and begin letting go of our past injuries. Instead of feeling shame, we can have Godly sorrow which leads to repentance. Godly sorrow means we grieve over the loss of relationship because of our sin. When we confess the  truth about ourselves to others we can be healed. When we seek to understand the ways of God’s Kingdom and do our part, we are living out that which the Bible tells us to do.