Bible Explorer for the Young (Book of Peter)Sample

Stages of Spiritual Growth

2 Peter 1:8

If all these things are in you and growing, you will never fail to be useful to God. You will produce the kind of fruit that should come from your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Bible describes the phases of spiritual growth that determine our spiritual level of maturity.

The very first stage is having faith in God. Faith is like a small seed of trust in God, even though we do not see God with our physical eyes.

The next step is to grow in goodness by obeying God’s commandments.

The third step is to gain knowledge and understanding about God by reading and meditating on the Bible all the time.

Then there’s self-control, which is our ability to avoid doing things God dislikes.

Perseverance is the next stage. It means never giving up on God and our faith, even when we haven’t received what we have been waiting for.

Then, daily, we must strive to be like Jesus and perceive ourselves through His eyes. We’re talking about godliness here.

After that, show kindness, which involves compassion, empathy, and forgiveness.

Last but not least, add love.

When we have faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, kindness, and love in us, it means we have grown spiritually according to God’s will.

Prayer

Dear God, help me show my love for You by doing what You have taught me to do in Your word. Amen.