Everything on earth has its own time and its own season. ECCLESIASTES 3:1
I am sure that God who began the good work within you will keep right on helping you grow in his grace until his task within you is finally finished on that day when Jesus Christ returns. PHILIPPIANS 1:6
There are no shortcuts to maturity.
It takes years for us to grow to adulthood, and it takes a full season for fruit to mature and ripen. The same is true for the fruit of the Spirit. The development of Christlike character cannot be rushed. Spiritual growth, like physical growth, takes time. When we try to ripen fruit quickly, it loses its flavor. While we worry about how fast we grow, God is concerned about how strong we grow. God views our lives from and for eternity, so he is never in a hurry.
Today we’re obsessed with speed, but God is more interested in strength and stability than swiftness. We want the quick fix, the shortcut, the on-the-spot solution. We want a sermon, a seminar, or an experience that will instantly resolve all problems, remove all temptation, and release us from all growing pains. But real maturity is never the result of a single experience, no matter how powerful or moving. Growth is gradual.“Our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.”
Although God could instantly transform us, he has chosen to develop us slowly. We are slow learners. We often have to relearn a lesson forty or fifty times to really get it. The problems keep recurring, and we think, “Not again! I’ve already learned that!” — but God knows better. The history of Israel illustrates how quickly we forget the lessons God teaches us and how soon we revert to our old patterns of behavior. We need repeated exposure.
We have a lot to unlearn. Many people go to a counselor with a personal or relational problem that took years to develop and say, “I need you to fix me. I’ve got an hour.” They naïvely expect a quick solution to a long-standing, deep-rooted difficulty. Since most of our problems — and all of our bad habits — didn’t develop overnight, it’s unrealistic to expect them to go away immediately. There is no pill, prayer, or principle that will instantly undo the damage of many years. It requires the hard work of removal and replacement. The Bible calls it “taking off the old self” and “putting on the new self.”
Growth is often painful and scary. There is no growth without change; there is no change without fear or loss; and there is no loss without pain. Every change involves a loss of some kind: We must let go of old ways in order to experience the new. We fear these losses, even if our old ways were self-defeating, because, like a worn out pair of shoes, they were at least comfortable and familiar.
People often build their identity around their defects. We say, “It’s just like me to be . . .” and “It’s just the way I am.” The unconscious worry is that if I let go of my habit, my hurt, or my hang-up, who will I be? This fear can definitely slow down our growth. Habits take time to develop. Remember that our character is the sum total of our habits. We can’t claim to be kind unless we are habitually kind, we show kindness without even thinking about it. We can’t claim to have integrity unless it is our habit to always be honest.
Our habits define our character. There is only one way to develop the habits of Christlike character: We must practice them — and that takes time! There are no instant habits. Paul urged Timothy, “Practice these things. Devote our life to them so that everyone can see our progress.” If we practice something over time, we get good at it. Repetition is the mother of character and skill.
Don’t get in a hurry. Believe God is working in our life even when we don’t feel it. Spiritual growth is sometimes tedious work, one small step at a time. Expect gradual improvement. The Bible says, “Everything on earth has its own time and its own season.”There are seasons in our spiritual life, too. Sometimes we will have a short, intense burst of growth (springtime) followed by a period of stabilizing and testing (fall and winter).
What about those problems, habits, and hurts we would like miraculously removed? It’s fine to pray for a miracle, but don’t be disappointed if the answer comes through a gradual change.
Keep a notebook or journal of lessons learned. This is not a diary of events, but a record of what we are learning. Write down the insights and life lessons God teaches us about him, about yourself, about life, relationships, and everything else. Record these so we can review and remember them and pass them on to the next generation.The reason we must relearn lessons is that we forget them. Reviewing our spiritual journal regularly can spare us a lot of unnecessary pain and heartache.
