The most effective changes in a person’s life come from an interaction of three places. First, is the person growing, second is God, and third are spiritual mentors. When we lead someone in their spiritual journey, it is essential to remember that growth is personal. We need to recognize where the individuals are spiritually so we can patiently and lovingly encourage them. Cloud likens the growth process to that of a gardener pruning away the unhealthy parts and nourishing the healthy.[1] Jesus himself used the same example, acknowledging God as the perfect gardener (Jn 15). When we walk with someone on their journey, we can help them identify these places of needed change from our experiences and results.

The Bible is the ultimate source of growth instruction. When we steer people to God’s Word, we help them understand “the ways of God and his relationship with us.”[2] We need to encourage a close personal relationship with God. One of the greatest joys of a fellowship journey is seeing someone open up to the Holy Spirit’s teaching, correcting, in righteousness. Often this is a challenging experience, especially for new believers. Spending time together, discussing God’s Word and how to apply it to our lives, is an invaluable asset to anyone.

Being a disciple is much more than just book learning. We can spend many hours studying and gain a lot of head knowledge, but if we do not put it into practice, it goes nowhere. I have done many traditional question-and-answer style studies over the years. These have been wonderful for understanding the points the author is trying to impress. However, our most significant learning comes from digging deeper than filling in the blanks. When we approach a passage with the intent of applying God’s message to our lives, the Holy Spirit reveals an entirely new understanding.

Instead of calling our discipling time together a “Bible study,” we referred to it as a discovery group. The intent was to discover God and the message He wanted to relay. When we first began meeting, our group was insecure in their knowledge of the Bible and apprehensive about not having the correct answers. We agreed to start with a short passage from the book of Genesis when God created man (Gen 2:4-24).  After reading the passage together and then retelling it in our own words, we began to discuss the text, such as the attributes of God, man and the interaction between them. Over the evening, they came to revelations of the power of God to create from nothing, and we have His breath within us. Also, God intended for man to have much responsibility in this world. We spent a good deal of time discussing the consequences of disobeying God and how we can change things in our lives.

When we met the following week again, they wanted to dig into the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. They were trying to understand why God so angrily destroyed the cities. Instead of starting there, we backed up a bit and looked at the days before when Abraham was pleading with God to spare the city (Gen 18:16-33). With minimal prompting on my part, they discovered God’s compassion for Abraham. A particularly striking moment was when they realized the close relationship that Abraham and God had and that the same kind of closeness and conversation was also available to them. It was beautiful to watch their thinking change from focusing on an angry God to realizing the extent that unrepentant sin had overtaken the city. We ended the evening committed to ferreting out the sin in our lives.

The Bible and the promptings of the Holy Spirit are the keys to our growth. They are God’s true and perfect Word, but sometimes we need help understanding the message. A discipleship relationship with fellow believers allows us to pose questions and seek answers. When we grow in our desire to be more like Christ, we put off more of our worldly ways. Having a partner on the journey adds accountability when we falter and someone to share the joy with when we rise. God designed us to journey together, multiplying the pattern of Christ’s life. We are called to grow together to bring God’s light to the world.

Thank you for taking the time to share this blog series.
Have a blessed week, hope to see you in church!

Pastor Michael

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[1] Cloud and Townsend, How People Grow.

[2] Ibid., 195.