STEPS FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH
Goal: You recognize how you can lead your disciples to spiritual growth.
The goal is...
- to grow from spiritual babyhood into spiritual childhood. (Consolidate)
- to grow from the spiritual teenage age into the spiritual youth age. (Train)
- to mature from spiritual adulthood into spiritual parents. (Send)
📖 1 John 2:14
Spiritual infancy
A born-again Christian is a believer. If you have led someone to Jesus, it is important that the Holy Spirit comes into his life. A sign that the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in him is the first love for Jesus, a deep peace, an irrepressible joy, an indescribable freedom and the certainty that he is a child of God.
📖 John 3:5
📖 1 Peter 2:2
Questions:
- What does a natural baby need at the beginning of its life?
- How can you give all these things to a spiritual baby?
- How can you show a new believer how to read the Bible for themselves?
Work through the “Consolidate” section with this person.
Spiritual adolescence
There is a phase in the natural growth process where your spiritual child goes through a kind of detachment process. They become independent and develop their own opinions. This is part of spiritual “coming of age”. So don't be disappointed if your spiritual teenager no longer listens to you as he did at the beginning. The important thing is that they are integrated into a spiritual family (group). Correction is important in the growth process.
Someone has reached spiritual adolescence when he can rule over sin, thoughts, feelings and circumstances. Model it for him, otherwise you have no authority to teach your disciple.
📖 Hebrews 12:7
📖 1 John 2:14
📖 Ephesians 4:14
Questions:
- How can you encourage your disciple in the spiritual adolescence/young adult stage?
- How and when do you want to train your disciple?
Train your disciple. The section “Training” can help you with this.
Spiritual parenthood
In the natural world, someone becomes a father or mother through the conception of a child. In the spiritual one, it is the same: you become a spiritual father or mother by helping someone to be born again.
A spiritual father or mother has spiritual children of their own. Through them, people keep coming to faith in Jesus. They have their own spiritual family by leading a small group. They help people to grow in their life of faith. They are delighted when their family grows and the spiritual children develop well. Their goal is for their spiritual children to have their own spiritual family again. They do everything they can to ensure that God's family develops well.
📖 1 John 2:13
Question:
- How do you yourself become a spiritual father, a spiritual mother?
Work through the section “Send” with spiritual parents-to-be and set them free to start their own group.