Everyday Practices to Help Your Spiritual Growth

Woof! Where have we been?? The past 6 months have been insane for our little family: we moved three times in three months (don’t recommend), moved far from our hometown, started a new job, started homeschooling, etc. Not bad changes, but exhausting ones for sure. Finally, we’re getting back into a rhythm of life, and what better time for that than the New Year?! Of course, it’s time to get some new rhythms and practices underway with our resolutions (or get back to ones that we should have always been doing… aka working out is always mine haha).  I mean this for you and me! With the insanity of life, it’s so easy to sit back, be lazy, and neglect the most important relationship of all: our relationship with God! So, with getting back on the horse of posting for this ministry, I wanted to get back to helping you find some everyday practices to help your spiritual growth. I’m writing these for me as well! These are not going to be a huge-epiphany-voice-from-heaven kind of wake-up call for you, but sometimes we need to be reminded of getting back to the basics because it’s the basic things that make the biggest difference. Oh, how easy it is for all of us to forget or neglect the basics! So here we go! Here are 7 fundamental ways you can boost your spiritual growth this next year.

7 Practices for Spiritual Growth

1. Learn to Live in Awe

Scripture commands that we learn to live in reverential awe of God (Luke 12:5 talking about “fearing God,” see our article Fear God, but don’t be terrified of Him). In fact, fearing God, living in reverential awe of Him, is tied not just to a good practice but our very reasoning ability! “The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge;
ignorant fools despise wisdom and discipline.… The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding (Proverbs 1:7; 9:10 LSB, emphasis added).” Let those sink in: the fear of God, standing in reverential awe of Yahweh, is directly linked to your reasoning ability. You give up Yahweh, you give up knowledge and wisdom itself! Now, what I didn’t say is that nonbelievers don’t reason or have knowledge; in fact, they do, even sometimes better than believers! But the key issue is that they can’t account for their knowledge or reasoning ability. They stand stealing from the Christian worldview while wanting to claim its ignorance. And yet, not being able to put a coherent justification toward reality, truth, and morality, or why any of those even matter at all. They live like Christians while denying their Creator. They give up the necessity of absolute truth and morality. When push comes to shove, their reasoning proves to be incoherent and senseless. Claiming to be wise, they become foolish (Romans 1:18-32). Look at our culture today and you’ll see the very disdain for knowledge, wisdom, and instruction. The result? Foolishness. (Check out our two-part podcast on Defending the Faith for more information on apologetics). 

Given up living in reverential awe of God, you begin reasoning like an unbeliever, and Scripture calls that being foolish. Don’t be foolish this new year, learn to live in awe of our great God.

2. Hear more of God’s voice

Now, to preface this, I’m not advocating for the charismatic movement! On the contrary, I’m arguing for something much simpler and much less exciting (at least to some perspectives!). If you want to hear God speaking, listen to His word. God has spoken through His written word. A very well-known passage will help us here:

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV, emphasis added).” 

So what do we see in this passage? Scripture is the very breath of God, the breathing out, the expression of God. That’s incredible to think about. When you read Scripture, you can read it as if it is God speaking to you (of course, you have to take into account the hermeneutics of how to interpret what the original author meant to the original audience, see our articles on How to Interpret Scripture). This can be seen with Jesus speaking to the religious leaders while quoting the Old Testament, and how it was as if God was speaking directly to them (Matthew 22:31-32, so wild when you chew on that!).

We also see that Scripture is good for teaching reproof, correction, and for training us to live more like Christ. The next section is powerful and such a simple little word makes a big difference: “that,” which I emphasized in the passage. Some versions may put “so that.” It’s showing a purpose clause (‘hina’ in the Greek). So what’s the purpose of Scripture and what it’s doing for the believer? It’s “so that” the believer may be complete, equipped for every good work. You want to be “complete?” Listen to God’s word!

Scripture is meant to shape us into the image of God that we were created to be. Without it, how will we know what God has spoken to us? How will we actually hear His voice rather than just sounding like a lunatic who claims to audibly hear God’s voice? Through His written message to us.

3. Spend time with God

This one is a no-brainer. If you want to grow closer to God this year, you need to spend more time with Him. This is directly related to point 2 (listening to His voice) but is also distinct. This is relational. Take communication out of any marriage, and what happens? The marriage crumbles. So too is our relationship with God: take communication out of the equation, and the relationship is impacted. So, apart from hearing from God through His word, how else do we spend time with Him? PRAY!

1 Thessalonians 5:17 says to pray without ceasing. Talk to God! Carve out time for this relationship! Jesus gives us the example of prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 (We need to cover that in a dedicatedd article!). This isn’t supposed to be some mechanical robot formula you always pray (we all can be guilty of that, I feel). It’s a relational building tool to connect us to the sovereign Creator and Sustainer of the universe! And if you have faith in Him, you are adopted sons and daughters who get to call the King “Daddy!” (Romans 8:15-17). If you can begin to understand the weight of this truth, your reality will be completely altered.

Now, creating a habitual practice of spending time with God is key. Refer to our article on this entitled Prayer:30.

4. Go to Church

The older I get and the more mature I grow in faith, the more I see the necessity of this. We tend to see church attendance as kind of the add on to our spiritual growth and not a necessity to it. We can get all the spiritual dopamine highs from quick-witty TikTok videos or Facebook shorts. This is not God’s design, and this wasn’t how the Church functioned in the last 2,000+ years. You’re not meant to be on this growth journey alone.

Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV, emphasis added: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,  not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” 

Some people think “I don’t need church when it’s just my bible and me under a tree.” That’s not how it is seen through Scripture. It’s not just learning from the Bible on your own or watching your favorite pastor teach on YouTube. Church is the ‘ecclesia’ or the gathering of believers. There’s a very fundamental aspect of the Church itself in what the name means: gathering. So, to be a part of the Church (the true Catholic Church or Universal Church, aka all believers from all times) is very connected to the ‘gathering’ of other true believers. That gathering produces worship of our Savior, accountability, relationships, discipleship, and many other benefits. Not to mention sharing life with other pilgrims on this journey!

Depending on the interpretive strategy of Revelation, believers of God from every tribe, tongue, and nation are seen gathering around the throne of God, worshiping Him (Revelation 7:9-10). If you see this as a future reality, why not get started now with the practice that we’ll be doing in the next life? Or perhaps that is a picture of what the Church is supposed to be now? A gathering of people around God and worshipping Him, a people from ever tribe, tongue, and nation!

Find a community of believers, invest in them, let them invest in you. Grow with one another, celebrate life together, and take part in each other’s sorrows. Hold each other accountable. But most importantly, help each other in our worship of our great God.

5. Listen to Christian Leaders who Know More than You

This is not to take the place of going to church and sitting under faithful leaders at a local level. This is to supplement or go along with your attendance in a local body of believers (like a protein shake supplements a workout but doesn’t take place of it!).

We live in an amazing age where you have access to biblical resources that people fifty years ago and beyond could have only dreamed of. Do you realize that you have more access to Biblical resources that walk around with you in your pocket than any other era in Christian history?! Biblegateway has tons of free resources, let alone numerous Bible study resources and Bible translations that you can access in just a couple of clicks. You can get seminary-level education for free now, and it can be accessed all over the world (ThirdMill Ministries, a fantastic resource and ministry). YouTube has a wealth of resources (of course, you have to do a fair amount of discerning and know when content is meat versus garbage, as many want just a ‘like’ click rather than doing the work of study and having to actually learn in order to teach). I’ve learned so much from great men of God from the countless resources on the net, most of which have been free. Some of my biggest influencers have been John Piper, RC Sproul, Paul Washer, Voddie Baucham, John MacArthur, Greg Bahnsen, and Apologia Studios. Of course, there are too many to list, but I can’t tell you how much these men and resources have meant to me and my walk.

Find Godly and faithful people who are further along in their journey than you are. Listen to them and read them. Have the humility to know that you don’t know everything and that there are others who do know more than you. But of course, these are a supplement to Scripture and attending church and are never to be consumed in place of them.

6. Learn to Submit

Hating submission is not just an American concept; it’s the human condition. We don’t want to be ruled by someone else. That was one of the issues in the Garden of Eden: we wanted to be the arbiter of truth versus error, right versus wrong. If you’ve got an issue with submitting to authority, the Christian walk will be an uphill battle.

“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. ^‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:22-32 ESV).”

Now, if this section immediately offends you, you should check yourself: do you have a submission issue? Ok, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, I want to point out something here. After Paul talks about this model for submission with a husband and wife, he is showing that it reflects a greater reality. As Christ, the husband of His bride, the Church, loves His bride and gives Himself up for her, the Church owes Him nothing less than submitting to His authority out of obedience and love. Submission to Jesus is key to our spiritual growth.

As stated before, this notion of submission contradicts the very fabric of our being. However, God has given His people a new heart and new mind that is able to be obedient to Him (Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel 36:25-27). So grow in submission this new year!

7. Grow in Worship

Everybody worships something. Some worship fame, money, security, sex, drugs, fitness, health, retirement, family, etc. Literally, the list is endless. We are idol-factories. We conjure idols anywhere we see fit. However, for God’s people, they’re called out of a life of idol worship and to a life of worship of the only true God.

Worship is not just something that’s dedicated for a certain time on Sunday mornings that involves music before a message at a church. Worship is supposed to be ingrained in all facets of our lives. Listen to the Shema of Deuteronomy 6:4-9 LSB:

“Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one! You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as phylacteries between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

Everything you do is supposed to be in worship of Yahweh. This passage reminds us of the centrality of this love for Yahweh in our daily lives.

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV).”

Doing all things to the glory of God, loving God with all of our being, is supposed reshape how we do everything! Everything is to be an act of worship! From the time you wake up in the morning to when you lay your head down, all of it is to be an act of worship. Reshape your thinking this new year. Worship the only Being that is truly worthy of your worship.

One Last Thing…

You need to know that you are human and that you’re not perfect. These tips for spiritual growth this next year are not intended to be a magic formula for finding favor with God or a means of salvation. You will fail.

“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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:9-10 ESV).”

I’ve written about this in other articles, but this isn’t just another try-hard campaign. These are meant to help you grow more into the image of Jesus. But you’re not Jesus! You will fail. You’ll never be sinless in this life (1 John 1:8-10)! But we have the God-given ability to put to death sin in our lives (Romans 8:12-17) because we have been given a new heart and a new mind (Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel 36:25-27).

So live in the reality that God has given you the ability to follow Him, the ability to grow deeper in a relationship with Him, and has given you the resources to do so, and yet also, His grace is sufficient for you when you do fall short.

-Austin