31 Steps Toward Spiritual Maturity
How to Grow Your Faith
As the Apostle Paul emphasized thousands of years ago, Bible study equips you to understand the Christian life. The ABC of evangelism is that the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ came to die. Not for you to linger in spiritual immaturity but to experience spiritual growth toward Christian maturity.
Reading the Bible, God's word, will help you grow spiritually. Without it, you will remain a spiritual baby.
One sign of spiritual maturity is the fruit of the Spirit. A second is the knowledge of our Lord. A third is spiritual discipline.
You have a personal relationship with God. Here is what to do next. 31 Steps Toward Spiritual Maturity will help you grow in and share your faith.
They will help you grow as the Holy Spirit empowers you. They will bring you closer to the Savior, Jesus Christ.
With your growing wisdom, you will share in what Jesus promised--friendship with God, revelation, trials, acceptance, joy, and life. Plus, the reward for a job well done after He declares you a good and faithful servant!
Sample Chapter
Introduction
Working through this book will guide you through the ABC of Christian growth. It will help you become more like Jesus and equip you to help others do the same.
You were born again to reproduce spiritually. It’s your God-ordained purpose. No other life achievement is as fulfilling.
These basic steps will equip you to fulfill God's purpose for your life. Your steps to maturity are only beginning with these lessons, but a good start is critical, like running a sprint race. The next step is to work through His Power for Your Weakness, which is one of six books available through discipleship books free download.
You’ll be reading a topic weekly at your meetings, for example, Assurance of Salvation, discussing it, and applying its truth to your life. Between sessions, you’ll read a chapter in the New Testament daily, beginning with Matthew. You’ll record what you’re learning and applying in the Devotional Journal, which begins on page 129.
At each meeting, you’ll share briefly what God has been teaching you through your devotional reading. That will help you stay accountable and spend time reading and applying God’s word daily at home and in a small group Bible study. These small group meetings are a vital part of a church assimilation strategy to connect people to your church.
Becoming more like Savior Jesus Christ requires…
Life
Corn grows, but pictures of corn don’t. You received spiritual life from God when you repented of your sins, accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, and became children of God. “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” (1 John 5:12)
The Bible
God speaks to and nourishes you through the Bible. It’s part of every healthy Christian’s daily diet, written not to inform but to transform you. With each topic, you’ll ask yourself, “What is God’s message to me?”
Time
A zucchini can mature and bear fruit in 37 days, but Christian maturity takes much longer. You can influence others for Christ from the beginning, but maturity requires at least two years. One mark of a mature disciple is the ability to apply God’s word wisely to life’s daily decisions. Another is making other disciples.
Application
Jesus said, “But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand” (Matthew 7:26).
In each lesson, you’ll ask yourself, “What’s my action plan to respond to God’s message to me?” It would be best if you had someone to hold you accountable for doing it. That’s why this book has its title. You all benefit when you hold others responsible, and they do the same for you.
Sacrifice
As a disciple of Christ, you can’t afford to dedicate your life to achieving some earthly goal. Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23).
One of the most challenging decisions you’ll make (and the most rewarding) every day is to die to your desires. Nothing less frees you up to live by Jesus’ agenda rather than your own.
God
Apostle Paul wrote, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow” (1 Corinthians 3:6). God works in your life to make you grow and equips you to help others succeed.
People
God uses more mature believers to teach and model the truth for you, so you can eventually do the same for others. “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Timothy 2:2).
You need a more mature believer to meet with you regularly. To discuss and model these lessons. To help you grow and reproduce spiritually.
Before you finish this book, you also need to begin to be that someone for others. I suggest working through this material in a small group of 4-9 called a discipleship pod.
Discipleship Pods
What’s a Pod?
A pod is a group of 4-9 disciples of Jesus committed to being honest with, encouraging, challenging, and holding each other accountable to grow more like Jesus in who they are and what they do. The pod leader is the chief disciple who, with the Apostle Paul, says, “Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1).
Realistically, not everything in the leader’s life is yet worth imitating. The part that’s like Jesus is the part to copy. That makes being a spiritual model for others achievable. Church leaders don’t have to be perfect to bless others.
Expectations
Jesus focused his ministry on making disciples. Since you’re imitating Him, the expectation is that you’ll start your pod in six to twelve months. Disciples make other disciples because that’s what Jesus commanded (Matthew 28:19).
You cannot lead a pod by yourself. But you’re not by yourself. God will do it through you. Others in your pod who lead their pods can also help.
You’ll discover that discipling others is God’s spiritual fertilizer to accelerate your spiritual development. It’s like maturing more quickly once you become a parent and are responsible for someone else!
Attendance at pod meetings is a priority. The pod will meet weekly for 60-90 minutes at a mutually agreed upon place and time. After your group finishes this book, it will meet less frequently. Perhaps every other week or once a month.
The new focus will be sharing God's message and action plans from your devotional times. You can hold one another accountable to follow through. Your original pod will also be a resource. Use their input to address challenges that arise.
Mission
The mission is a vital part of every pod. Making disciples means showing God’s love practically to those still outside God’s Kingdom. Discipleship is the power plant for outreach.
We seek to become like Jesus in who we are and what we do. Jesus said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). Jesus continues His relational mission.
He seeks and saves the lost through us. We hold one another accountable to do that.
Balance
Healthy believers, pods, and churches demonstrate a balance between loving God, loving insiders (other believers), and loving outsiders (not-yet-believers).
There are six ways to be imbalanced. We tend to be weak in at least one of the three dimensions. Being unbalanced diminishes the flow of God’s power through us. We must help one another find the balance and stability that maximizes God’s ability to use us.
Assurance of Salvation
Confident Faith Is Vital
Many people have no hope for life beyond the grave. They think this life is it; the best they can do is enjoy it before it’s gone forever. God’s truth-twisting opposition markets that idea. There is life beyond your death certificate, and you can know you have it!
Assurance of salvation frees you to forget about yourself and give yourself to others. You do not have to worry about your eternal destiny. You do not have to fear God’s judgment.
You are an instrument through whom God can bring spiritual healing to others. You can know you are going to heaven when you die. Is it arrogant to have the assurance of salvation? Why?
Confident Faith’s Foundation
Assurance of salvation is built on trust in God’s character and promises, not on your feelings. Feelings rise and fall like the stock market with changing circumstances; you can’t depend on them.
In Revelation 3:20, Jesus promises to come into your life if you invite Him to enter it. He didn’t add any other conditions. He didn’t say He might come into your life or He would think about coming into your life. He promised that if you open the door of your life to Him, He WILL come in.
Trust Him. Faith takes Jesus at His word. He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). Grace and truth came through Him (John 1:17).
He cannot lie to you. Lying to you would ruin His entire reputation! He has more to lose than you do!
Eternal Life Is….
When Jesus comes into your life, He brings eternal life with Him. John 5:24 describes life as a present possession. The one who hears Jesus’ words and believes in His promise to forgive those who repent and believe the gospel has eternal life.
Eternal life is more than an endless existence. A spiritual heart transplant from Jesus brings a higher quality of life than you’ve ever known. “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).
When Jesus loves, He’s just Himself. His life in you enables you to be like Him.
Fact-Based Faith
Imagine I take my car to a service station with about a gallon left in my gas tank. I become distracted and put ten gallons of gasoline in the trunk. It could happen.
I almost put athlete’s foot spray under my armpits one sleepy morning! The gas in my trunk can’t fuel the engine. I just wasted more than thirty dollars.
The engine in this illustration represents the facts (God’s character and promises). The gasoline in my gas tank stands for trust in God’s character and promises. The fuel in the trunk represents trusting my feelings which won’t get me anywhere. The one gallon left in my tank is more beneficial than the ten in my trunk.
This illustration shows the foolishness of trusting in my feelings which change like the weather. God’s character and promises have no expiration date. Faith believes in God’s promises and acts on them.
Trust God’s character and promises, not whether you feel He’s in your life at any moment. Jesus promised to come in. He did.
A Trustworthy Object of Faith
In April 1977, I went ice fishing at Cormorant Lake in Minnesota. It was about a 50-mile drive from my Fargo, North Dakota, home.
When I arrived, I saw a two-foot ring of water between the shoreline and the ice on the lake. First, I was disappointed. Then, I was angry that the ice might be unsafe. Then I took a risk.
I did not want to go back without fishing. I did not know whether the ice was safe. I took a leap of faith onto the ice and rejoiced that it held my weight. About 100 feet from shore, the ice was 37- inches thick.
That 37-inch-thick ice represents God's trustworthy character and promises. It will support you if you have enough faith to venture onto it. On the other hand, great faith in ¼-inch-thick ice won’t prevent you from breaking through it.
It’s not how much faith you have but where you place the faith you have. Is it a trustworthy object or not? Faith assures you that Jesus is living within you.
Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). What makes a living by faith so tricky?
Know-So Faith Is God’s Will
A know-so faith isn’t arrogant because 1 John 5:13 says God wants you to know you have eternal life. A know-so faith is His will for you; he doesn’t want you to settle for anything less.
Five Vital Signs of Jesus’ Life in You
Jesus' life within you is unique. It reveals itself through several vital signs.
1. The Holy Spirit’s presence in your life (1 John 4:13). The Holy Spirit testifies with your human spirit that you’re God’s child (Romans 8:16).
Do you have a new voice within you that assures you that you belong to God? Every follower of Jesus hears the same voice. Show your fruit of the spirit.
2. Believing that Jesus is the Christ (1 John 5:1) means going beyond agreeing with the historical facts of Jesus’ identity. You must trust His death, burial, and resurrection instead of your goodness to make you 100% acceptable to God.
3. Obeying Jesus’ commands (1 John 2:3). The commands we obey shape our lives for better or worse. My life differs from yours. It is because my parents issued orders differently than yours.
I belong to them and live according to their values to avoid disgrace on the family name. Jesus’ commands shape us to become like Him. When we WANT to become like Jesus, obeying Him isn’t hard.
4. Loving other believers (1 John 3:14). Love chooses to benefit others by self-sacrificial giving. It reveals itself primarily through actions.
5. Doing what is right (1 John 3:10). The Judge of all the earth does what is right (Genesis 18:25). So do His children. They increasingly follow their new made-in-heaven internal moral compass.
How has your life changed in the following areas since you trusted Jesus as your Forgiver and Leader?
• Interest in the Bible.
• Forgiving others
• Prayer life
• Guilt removed
• Spending time with other believers
• Serving others
• Telling others about Jesus
• Loving others
• Encouraging others through your words
• Victory over sin
• Other changes
How do you know that Jesus is in your life, and you have eternal life now?
If you aren’t sure but would like to be, you must repent (Be willing to turn from sin and self-centered living to God) and believe that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, died on Calvary’s cross in your place, was buried, and rose again the third day.
Believing in Jesus means receiving Him. Ask Him to forgive your sins and come into your life to be your Forgiver and Leader. The following is a prayer you could use:
Lord Jesus, thank You for dying on the cross in my place and taking my sin, death, and judgment upon Yourself.
I open the door of my life to You, and I want You to come and take control. Thank You for forgiving my sins and making me a child of God. Make me like You. Amen.
What’s God’s message to you in this lesson? What underlying attitudes/thought patterns do you need to change?
What is your action plan to make those changes?
Scripture Memory
Revelation 3:20—Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they will be with me.
Scripture is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers. © 2014 by Jack Selcher
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