Three Keys to Spiritual Growth

1 Thessalonians 4:1

Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.

The Scriptures command the believer to grow. Now God does not say how fast we need to grow, but He does tell us that we must grow. Spiritual growth is not measured by how high we have climbed, but by how high we have raised our lows. You see, there are some people who climb to great heights, but their lows never get higher. In fact, some people who can climb to great heights find their lows getting lower. It does not matter how high you get if your lows keep getting lower. Every believer must take control of their Christian walk and realize that they must raise their lows if they are to grow spiritually.

We are given several keys in the Scriptures that help us grow spiritually, but none show us more clearly how to do so than the book of 1 Thessalonians. It is critical to note that you will not please God if you don't grow spiritually. You will notice the verse above says, as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God. Notice how your walk determines how you please God. Three keys are given in this chapter that show us how to have spiritual growth.

First, abounding is a key to spiritual growth. To abound is to flow over on others. I will never grow spiritually until I start living my life to help others. No person grows spiritually who does not live their life to help others. As believers, we are like sponges that can only take in so much water. In order for a sponge to work, you must soak up the water and squeeze it out to be able to absorb more water. That is the key to spiritual growth. I soak up what God gives me from His Word, and then I abound on others what God has given to me. You will only grow so much, and then it will stop if you don't give out to others what God has given to you in His Word. Abounding is overflowing to others what God has given to you.

Second, increase is a key to spiritual growth. God never intends for us to be stagnant in the Christian life, but He intends for us to increase in all that we do for Him. Our faith should increase. Our prayer life should increase. Our reading of God's Word should increase. Our ministry that we work in should increase. You are not growing unless you are increasing with whatever you do. If I am not doing more today than what I did yesterday, then I have stopped growing. You must have a vision and a drive to increase if you are going to grow in the Christian life. The key to increase is old-fashioned hard work. If you're not working hard in the Christian life, you will never increase with what God has given you to do.

Third, more and more is a key to spiritual growth. In both instances in this chapter, God tells us to increase more and more, and to abound more and more. God is teaching us never to be satisfied with the heights that we have achieved. You will not grow spiritually if you think that you have spiritually arrived. The key to spiritual growth is always to realize that there is more for you to do than what you have already done in the past. Never look to the past of what you have done, but always look to the future of how much more you need to do, and let that drive you. If you always want to do more in the work God has given you to do, that will allow you to spiritually grow without stopping.