Slow Growth: A 4-Day Plan to Examine Your Spiritual Fruit and Live UnhurriedНамуна

Slow Growth

Reluctantly and still half-asleep, I rolled over as I heard the all-too-familiar “pat, pat, pat, pat, swoooossshhh” sound coming into our bedroom. Even at four years old, my son still managed to wake in the night and quietly walk into our room, dragging his beloved stuffed lamb named “Lovey” behind him.

After months of re-sleep-training, doctor’s calls, sleepless nights on the floor in his room, and gallons of coffee, my husband and I caved and started pulling him into our bed...definitely not a fate we happily accepted. But my perspective changed after a conversation with a dear older friend.

With wisdom and love in her eyes, she said, “One day will be the last day he sleeps in your bed. You used to change his diapers, and now he’s potty-trained. You used to nurse him, and now he eats what you eat. You used to carry him, and now he runs literally everywhere he goes. He’s growing, and will grow out of this, too.”

She was right. As a mom, I’ve seen the coming and going of seasons in my children’s lives, and I’ve seen the growth she referenced. But as I continued to come back to her words, the Lord gently reminded me that it’s not only my children who need growth. As a follower of Jesus, I also need to grow as I walk through different spiritual seasons.

This growth, including the growth necessary to live unhurried and surrender our plans for His purposes, is a process. One we must take step by step.

An unhurried, Christ-centered life doesn’t just happen.

Moving Toward Maturity

Over the next 4 days, we are going to answer the question, “What does it look like to pursue spiritual maturity?”

As I pondered this question, I started thinking about people in my life who I consider to be amazing men and women of faith. One of the biggest characteristics I could identify in each of them is that their outward self mirrors their inner self. By that, I mean their actions consistently align with and reflect their heart. They each bear the fruit of the Spirit we see in Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

We are going to take a deep dive into what bearing each fruit looks like practically in our lives, but today, start with knowing this: spiritual maturity comes when we keep our eyes on eternity and choose small steps of obedience, day by day. These daily acts of obedience are not insignificant or meaningless; they are small, necessary steps in a larger walk marked by faith and Christlikeness.

Reflect:

Can you think of someone whom you would consider to be spiritually mature? What does their day look like?