Every year on my birthday as a child, I would walk over to the door frame in the kitchen, stand up as straight as I could, and either mom or dad would measure how tall I was that day. Year after year, I would get to see how much taller I was from the year before. I loved those moments. As I eagerly stood beside in front of the door frame, it took everything inside of me (and sometimes I would need to be reminded) to not stand on my tip toes. I always wanted to be taller. I always wanted to grow.
The pencil marks in the door frame with the dates written beside them were a clear indication of how much I physically grew year after year. Some years I would grow half an inch, others I grew an inch, while others I grew six plus inches.
Did you have a door frame like that in your house? Did you have something that tangibly tracked your physical growth as you grew up?
As I thought about how the door frame helped me measure my physical growth, I began to think about I measure my spiritual growth. How do I measure my spiritual growth? How can I tangibly have a clear indication of how much I spiritually grow over time? What is the door frame in my walk with God?
______________________
I need your help. I want to hear your thoughts.
How do you measure spiritual growth?
For me, It is when I look back on a season in my life and think…”Thank God I don’t act that way anymore…or man, I would have handled that differently.” Or when I do something during the day and think “When did I start doing that? I’m so glad you revealed that to me Lord.”
I also will look back at my old journals from about 4 yrs ago…that is definitely a way I track my spiritual growth and also get to see how my faith in the Lord has grown so much deeper than before.
Look at your Bible… Are you wearing it out? Is it being used?
How unselfishly am I able to love others? Can I even come close to the way Jesus loves? How good am I at serving God with no thought of receiving any return? These are important marks for me Brian,…and I think possibly many.
i think looking back on how you used to act and think would show how much you’ve grown.
also accomplishments and times where you have done something to impact someones life, or the eternal kingdom, by seeing those things you can see how much you’ve grown.
You should also set spiritual goals at the beginning of the year, if you’ve accomplished those then you’ve grown, and you can set harder goals for the next year, to grow even more.
It’s an interesting question because it brings up the tension between faith and works.
I can read my Bible a lot more and do kind things for others without actually growing spiritually. I can learn more about God without ever really drawing close to him. I can measure the things I do but how do I measure my heart?
Of course James talked about the fact that works will naturally flow out of faith and so to some extent works can still be a legitimate guide.
I need to ask myself if I’m becoming more dependant on God. Do the things of this world hold less and less attraction for me? Is my natural inclination becoming more about serving others and less about me? Do I delight in spending time with God?
I’m looking forward to seeing other comments.