Often times, in mostly spiritual settings, I hear Christians ask "How can they grow in their Christian faith?" The following are some of my personal thoughts. First, it is really helpful if you believe in your heart that God, the Heavenly Father, sent his Son to earth to take the form of a man, and to die on the cross for the forgiveness of our past and future sins. You might ask yourself why God and Jesus would do this, and the answer is simple. God knew that man/woman would never be good enough on their own to earn eternal life with Him in Heaven; given that sin is so prevalent in this world of 'Free Choice'. So God decided to send His Son, Jesus, to provide a pathway to eternal life should people believe and have faith in Him. This message is mentioned frequently and in many different areas of the New Testament. One of the most famous of these sayings was offered by Jesus Christ himself when he said in John 14:6, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” If you believe and have faith in Jesus, then you are a Christian, and God will send his Holy Spirit to you to change your heart and your life. It is this change that promotes good works, and an improved love and caring for others. Given this set of facts, we should all be thankful to the Lord Jesus for His death on the Cross for our sins, and our goal should be to want to become more like Him.
So here are a few ways/ideas you might want to consider to improve your spirituality and grow in your faith (especially point #8):
1. Read the Bible frequently (hopefully daily) and understand the 'Word' of God. If you are a beginner I would start with the New Testament and the Gospel of Matthew, and then continue on forward from there. Reading the Bible regularly will make you more aware of the 'Word of God', and what it really means to be a true Christian.
2. Pray to our Lord God (hopefully daily) A. Some people like to use the word 'ACTS' to remember those major categories to include in a prayer. A= Adoration of our Lord, C= Contrition for your sins, T= Thanksgiving for those things that you/family/others have been blessed with, and S= Supplication/Prayer Requests. My feeling is that the sequence of these major categories of prayer are not that important, but more a guide to know what is important. B. I like to start by thanking our Lord God for all of the prayers that He has answered, and for all of the blessings that He has seen to send my, and my entire family's way. I also like to thank God for my life here on this earth (which I owe to Him), and for being born in a country (the USA) that offers all of the freedoms and opportunities that this country offers. I then continue to thank God for all of the other things in my life that I and my family have been blessed with. I then like to tell the Heavenly Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit how much I love, praise, honor, glorify and respect them (Adoration) for their majesty and their part in my, and my family's life.
C. I then like to talk to Our Lord about my recent sins (Contrition) and ask Him for forgiveness. I often tell Him that I am disappointed with myself, and will attempt to do better in the future. D. Lastly, I like to ask God to listen to my new Prayer Requests for the day (Supplication), in the hopes that the prayers will be answered. I ask for all Prayer Requests in Jesus's precious and holy name. E. It should be noted here that all prayer is a very personal thing, and what you want to include in the prayer should always be totally a collection of your own thoughts and feelings. The above is just an example.
3. Belong to a church that is centered around Christian ideas and values and the reading of the Bible.
4. Read books and literature on religious or spiritual topics.
5. Join a group(s) at a church or social organization that have a spiritual intent. Some of the best knowledge and information that you gain comes from these groups of individuals and their individual inputs. Also, the people you interact with will have similar interests, and often times become some of your very best friends.
6. Get involved with groups or organizations that focus on the poor and needy and contribute your time or other resources to assist in their mission; for love and caring is what Christianity is all about.
7. Listen to spiritual music
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8. Set goals. I believe that a very good way to improve your spirituality as it relates to the above is to set goals. I have personally found that setting goals is an excellent way to stay focused on what you want to accomplish. Setting goals will allow you to stay focused on what you have defined as your plan. For example, if you decide that to start you want to read the Bible and pray a minimum of three to five days each week, then this is your starting point. Part of a goals process should be to review your performance against those goals after some specified period of time (say every 2-4 weeks to start), and if an adjustment is needed to make an adjustment to these goals. Therefore, if you are finding that you can do more than your original goals, you may want to up the goals criteria. If, on the other hand, you feel that you set the goals a little to high, then lower the goals. The intent is to stay focused each day on your commitment and strive to find the time to meet that commitment. You want to have goals set that are realistic and that can be met. If there is a wide disparity between the goals and reality this can sometimes lead to frustration and possibly giving up. This is why setting a time to sit back and review your performance is essential. For success depends on a plan that can keep you focused, and hopefully allow for improvement as time elapses. As time goes on you may want to see if you can add reading a spiritual book every so often, or maybe even joining one of the types of groups mentioned above. The thing that should be recognized here is that everyone of us has commitments throughout the day, and that this differs substantially from one person to the next. So set your initial goals reasonably, and then review and make adjustments as necessary. This way, you always stay focused, and know what you want to try to accomplish each day. Another great goal is to attempt to set a priority for your reading of the Bible and your Prayer session. Ideally, it works best if you can do these spiritual sessions as the first thing in your new day, when your mind is fresh, but again to many this may not be possible.
9. Practice Quiet Time. Quiet time can be interpreted differently by each of us, but hopefully, it is a time where you isolate yourself from your daily activities and find a quiet time and place where you feel you can speak and or listen to God with as little distraction as possible. Some would consider quiet time as a time set aside to converse with God and to thank Him for all that He has done for you. Others might speak to God about those things that they are concerned about, or those things that they would like Him to clarify. Others might use quiet time to reflect on a passage that they have read and then reflect on it's meaning and how it applies to their life. Others might want to just take a deep breath, relax, and then let God's peace fill their body; in the hope that God will speak to their mind and heart. Another approach might be to talk to God and tell Him up front that you have a particular concern that you would like to have clarified, and that you would like Him to speak to you clearly so that you could understand how to proceed. The response, though, can come in different forms: 1) It might come from God's Biblical word, 2) through your daily thoughts, 3) through things that happen in our lives, or 4) even in our interactions with others. I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Everyone has their own view of what quiet time is and what it should be for them and what it should include. Bottom line, it is a time that you try to improve your communication and relationship with God. So figure out how often, and at what time in the day is best for you, and try your best to adhere to the schedule for quiet time that you have set aside. It does not need to be a time you set aside each day, or even each week.
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