H.U.N.G.E.R. - G is for...
Growth oriented. In order to “stay hungry” we must seek growth in the right areas of our lives.
As we mature as believers, we will change. Sometimes those changes are very small, almost unnoticeable - like a large tree that may still be growing a foot each year. Other times they can be significant and powerful.
I love this quote about growth:
Healthy things grow and growing things change.
Ephesians 4:14-16 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
This passage paints a great picture about the fruit of spiritual growth for followers of Christ. Maturity help us to avoid the influences of the secular world because our ears are trained to hear the voice of Christ over the voices of culture. It also tells us how mature believers find their place in the body of Christ - where we live and serve. We are part of the same family but we are also part of the body of Christ.
I want to share some key principals about growth from a sermon that I listened to by John Maxwell.
Growth must be intentional. We cannot expect for it to just magically happen. There has to be conviction and motivation but also discipline. “Motivation gets us going but discipline keeps us growing.”
We have to decide which areas we really want to grow in. We can be hyper-focused on growth but, if it’s not in the right areas, then we may be winning a battle but losing a war. We have the weigh our priorities in the greater context of what is most important. Some individual goals can be very noble aspirations but they may not be in the best interests of our greater vision and purpose.
We must create a growth environment. Like the picture of the plant above in a greenhouse, we must put ourselves in an environment that gives us the best opportunity to grow. That could mean that some environments needs to be reduced or eliminated from our lives - for a season or forever. We have to ask ourselves if the environments that we are in are contributing to or taking away from our growth. Think community.
Growth doesn’t always come easy but it does come if we seek it intentionally, in the right areas and in the right environments.
Stay hungry,
Big E