SPIRITUAL GROWTH (7)

>>> EVIDENCES OF FAILED GROWTH

TEXT: 2 Peter 3:18

As we approach the end of this series on the necessity for spiritual growth we shall take a spotlight on some evidences of failed growth. When a man is not growing, he is under the spell of stagnation or retrogression and will manifest some symptomatic attitudes. On SPIRIT SWORD today we look at some of these features of absent growth.

(1) ARGUMENTS OVER SPIRITUAL ISSUES

A spiritually stagnated person will argue over unnecessary things. He/she will always try to justify his/her low spiritual degree and carnality. It is among them you find the most arguments over what is sin and not sin.

(2) LAZINESS AND PROCRASTINATION REGARDING SPIRITUAL THINGS

They are lazy to pray and reading the Bible is hard job for them. They defer spiritual exercises and fellowship with God. They make excuses why they are not able to pray, fast or evangelise, and their major excuse  is that they are busy.

(3) RISING AND FALLING (ZIG-ZAG SPIRITUALITY)

When a man is not growing, he is always rising today and falling tomorrow. He keeps committing and confessing the same sin over and over again. The sin he battled with years ago is still killing him uptil now.

(4) CONDEMNING SPIRITUAL THINGS

Since he is not growing, he doesn’t understand the move of the Spirit, so when he sees spiritual power and supernatural manifestations, he condemns them. His problem is that he is suffering from carnality and the carnal man does not understand spiritual things – they are foolishness to him (1 Cor. 2:14).

(5)  DISREGARD FOR SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP/AUTHORITY

He does not respect church/spiritual leadership. He is rebellious and disobedient. He talks to people and leaders anyhow. He does not regard authority. Humility and quietness are not on his own Bible because he lacks them. What he lacks spiritually he has replaced with physicality.

(6) HYPOCRITICAL SPIRITUALITY

He is a pretender and thinks he is smart. When he is with believers he acts spirituality and even attempts to speak in some odd tongues. But when he is away from the sight of God’s people, he is something else.

(7) HE HONOURS THE WORD OF MAN THAN THE WORD OF GOD

He can quote his favourite preacher several times but cannot quote Bible. It doesn’t matter what the Bible says, once “his pastor” says something is not sinful, he follows the pastor word and not God’s word.