Seeds for Success: Steps to Support Your Spiritual Development
God knows how to maximize the gifts and abilities that He placed in us. While there are elements of our purpose and destiny that require proving and maturity, we need to realize that the Holy Spirit wants to mobilize us wherever we are now. It is often through a process of spiritual development that God works to grow what has been planted (1 Corinthians 3:7). Through our spiritual development, He activates a testimony in us that witnesses who God is and what He can do. Our lives may not always reflect a showy presentation. However, even our resilience from falling and rebounding speak of God’s goodness, grace, and glory in our lives (Psalm 37:24). Our society often emphasizes work ethic, noting that if a person wants something, he or she works for it. While that stretches and develops character, life happens along the way, disrupting our view of the plans we’ve made. Sometimes we put in the work, but results don’t always follow a linear path. We make investments toward a specific outcome, but human plans are notorious for encountering roadblocks. This can frustrate us if we have a vision that God has given us, but He, in His wise way, works through our detours and disruptions to produce the desires He’s placed in our hearts. Commit your works to the LORD, And your plans will be established. – Proverbs 16:3, ESV Spiritual development: See the vision While we could become discouraged, we must encourage our hearts in the Lord. Nurturing the vision is essential to spiritual development. It requires that we believe that we already have what we’ve requested from the Lord (1 John 5:15). Scripture underscores this and will build and boost faith. The Word helps us to see through the eyes of faith what hasn’t yet [...]