5 Day Study On Spiritual GrowthSample

Most people I know love solid foods—whether it’s bread, steak, vegetables, fruit, potato chips or even candy bars. However, I’ve never seen somebody trying to feed a 3-month-old baby a piece of ribeye. Why? Because a baby can’t process solid foods like steak at that age. Instead, a baby needs milk. Everything required for the baby’s growth and maturity is found in the milk. It’s built in. 

A similar rule applies to believers regarding how we process spiritual food. Food is fuel for growth and health. God's Word provides the nourishment we need to grow and mature. In other words, Scripture is our spiritual food. Therefore, the Bible is indispensable for spiritual growth. Reading, studying, internalizing and digesting Scripture strengthens the soul, encourages the heart and transforms the mind.

If you go to the store and look at baby food, you’ll notice a “stage number” somewhere on the label. This number tells us, based on the baby’s level of maturity, what foods it can handle. We don’t start babies off on steak because the baby isn’t mature enough to handle it. Likewise, every believer should begin with a spiritual diet that fits their level of maturity and progresses from there. For the new believer, this means you should start with the basics of the faith, including core doctrinal truths and spiritual disciplines like prayer, worship and service. This is your milk. As time passes, you should progress to what Scripture describes as solid food. This points to not only more difficult doctrines and teachings, but also to the application of Scripture to your daily life. Either way, this suggests that Christian maturity involves a movement “from milk to meat" as we grow spiritually. Just like the baby, everything required for our growth and maturity is found in the Word of God. It’s built in. The question is, are you eating enough of the spiritual nutrients you need to grow and mature? 

Do you have a regular "feeding schedule" for Scripture? What schedule should you develop for sitting down and reading God’s word?