Know to Grow in the Christian Life

Instead of titling this posting "How to Grow...", I entitled it "Know to Grow..."

I've heard a lot of sermons, messages, advice and encouragment dealing with how to live a better Christian life. Almost all of them deal with developing character and moral behavior. However, as I progress in years and look at the Bible more and more, I see the pattern for growth becoming clearer to me.

The key is faith. It is believing the gospel and its promises and receiving by faith the grace that we have been given in Christ. The commands to repent, humble oneself, renounce sinful ways and of the like become just burdens to live up to without faith. Without believing faith and trust in the goodness of the Lord given to us in the gospel, the mandate to live an improved Christian life is just bondage. That is because when we look to ourselves to grow, we will only find shortcommings that breed discouragement.

The secret to growth is to immerse myself into the word of the Lord's grace. This leads to faith which leads to the experience of the Holy Spirit's power in the heart which leads to the only motivation that can make progress past the selfish desires embedded in my heart.