How Do We Grow?
How do we grow? That’s the million dollar question. In fact, it’s probably the billion dollar question.
By ‘growth’ I don’t mean physically – I mean spiritually. How do we grow in our faith? How do we grow in Truth? How do we grow in character? How do we grow in our relationship with Jesus?
Basically, how do we become better men?
That’s a big nut to crack. Through our work with Wholehearted Men I have the pleasure of working with hundreds of men who want to become better men – who want to grow. And we see huge growth in many men. However, in others there is not so much growth.
So why do some men seem to grow, and others do not?
I don’t know exactly, but I do know that Jesus told us there are 3 criteria for growth:
“But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.”
In Luke 8:5-15 Jesus talks about the parable of the sower and the seed. He concludes the parable with that statement about those who produce fruit; the soil in whom the seed grew up into a good crop; the ones who grew in their faith. He outlined the 3 criteria for growth:
- Hear
- Retain
- Persevere
We see this whenever we hold a Wholehearted Men’s conference or boot camp. Everyone in the room has the opportunity to “hear” the Word of God – the Truth. Some truly do hear it. They choose to open their hearts. They choose to humble themselves. They choose to give God permission to work in them. They put aside the distractions of life. They choose to unplug from the matrix and actively listen – expecting to learn.
And subsequently they ‘hear’ the word.
Sadly, others do not unplug. Others do not resist distractions. Others do not embrace humility and grace, get offended by something and end up not hearing the Word of God.
Those who ‘hear’ the Word now have the opportunity to ‘retain’ it. Retaining the Word does not come passively. To retain the Word requires intention and action. Retaining the Word requires remembering it, talking about it, thinking about it, discussing it, studying it and wrestling with it. It’s training in Godliness.
We retain more when we take notes. But the majority of retention takes place after the hearing of the Word. Sure, retention begins during the hearing, but all the heavy lifting is after we have heard the Word.
The current set against us is forgetfulness, so we must intentionally swim upstream against forgetfulness in order to retain the Word. We must spend time in study and prayer asking the Lord to further unfold His Truth to us. We must discuss the Word with others, perhaps at breakfast groups we initiate, or in small groups. We must meditate on it as we drive, as we walk, as we wait. We must remember it and own it.
We must put it into practice.
We then must ‘persevere’ in the Word. This is hard work because it involves further hearing and retention, but it is primarily about action. It’s about obedience. It’s about surrender and submission. It’s about repenting. It’s about making things right when we mess up and continuing to move forward. It’s about doing good, because faith without deeds is useless.
It’s about not giving up when the going gets tough. It’s about not backing down when we feel overwhelmed. It’s about choosing not to get angry and offended when the Lord cuts across our will – perhaps through someone who rubs us the wrong way. It’s about dying to ourselves so we can live in Christ. Not my will, but yours be done Lord.
This is really about “continuing to work out your salvation with fear and trembling” knowing that it’s “God at work in you to make you both willing and able to work according to His good purpose”. (Philippians 2:12, 13)
The result? Righteous, peace and joy in Jesus; a truly successful life in Christ; becoming the kind of man you want to be – and that God has created, crafted and called you to be.
Hear, retain, and persevere: 3 criteria for great growth in God.
2 Peter 1:5-8
“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 Timothy 4:7b, 8
“…train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”
James 1:2-4
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
