Are You Spiritually Progressing Or Regressing?

Progressing - To move forward while proceeding steadily to the advancement of a goal.

Regressing - To move backwards while falling back to an earlier spiritual level of growth. To return to an earlier state of development, maturity or understanding.

Why People Spiritually Regress -

Some people are not wholly devoted to the Lord. Lord. (Col. 3:23)

Others turn away from God as Solomon did. (I Kings 1 1:9)

Others allow temptations to conquer them. (Kings 1 1:1-13)

Some let pride bring them down. (Prov. 16:18)

Some let lusts conquer their mind, will and emotions.(l John2:15,16)

Some let the evil desires of their heart to defile them.(Matt. 15:18)

0thers let their love for God grow cold. (Rev. 2:4)

Some run ahead of God through their own fleshly efforts. (Gal. 5:4)

Some become discouraged, frustrated or resentfully bitter. (Heb 12:15)

Some allow the good seed of God's word to be choked out by the worries, riches and pleasures of this life. (Mark 4: 1-21)

Some do not continue to consecrate themselves in all areas of life. (' Pet. 3: 15)

Some get distracted and settled for mediocrity. (Rev. 3:15)

Others give in to carnal, selfish or egocentric (Gen 13:1)

Some fail to press for the higher goals that are in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 3: 14)

Some fail to grow in their faith as Abraham did. (Rom. 4:20,21)

Others compromise to gain peoples' favor, acceptance or a sense of belonging to some group (Gal. 4:8-10)

Some fall into the devil's entrapment. (Gcn. 14)

Some fiddle with the insignificant and non-essential matters while forgetting to concentrate on the essentials of God's priorities(Gal. 6:6-1)

Others surrender to a life of ease to please themselves, their families and their close personal friends. (1 Thes. 2:3-8)

Others simply fail to make the wisest choices regarding the will of God. (John 7: 17)

What Factors Contribute Toward Spiritual Regression?

1. Choosing friends and associates who are not wholly devoted to the Lord God (2 Tim. 2:24-26)

2. Fear of people as Peter denied Christ because he feared what others would say about him. (Matt. 26:70-72)

3. The love of money as the root of all sorts of evil. (I Tim. 6:10)

4. Disobedience to the Lord, the scriptures and the prompting of the Holy Spirit (I Sam. 15: 11)

5. Giving in to societal, tribalistic, nepotistic, cliqueish, or family pressures. (Gal. 1:10) Lack of knowledge, wisdom or connection to the whole will of God. (Col. 2:3)

6. Failure to remember and appropriate the promises of 2 (Cor 1:20)

7. Listening and following carnal or ungodly advisers (Eph. 4: 14,15)

8. Giving in to the pressures to care for the things of one's earthly distractions and cares. (l Cor. 7:35)

9. Failure to see things from the mind of Christ. (Rom. 12: 1,2)

10. Inability to cooperate with the body of Christ. (Eph. 4:13)

11. Lack of endurance, patience, or perseverance in doing good (I Cor. 15:58)

12. Selfish ambition for power, prestige or popularity. (Acts 8:19) Love of the world as Demas who forsook Paul and the ministry after ten years of faithful service. (2 Tim. 4:1-10)

13. Various forms of idolatry (Ex. 32:X) Various manifestations of selfishness (Prov. 14:14

14. Resorting to deceitfulness, politicizing or intrigue (l Tim.6)

Root Causes For Spiritual Regression

1. Faulty or incomplete dedication to the Lord, His will, His word, His church or His great commissions of Matthew 28:19,20

2. Poor devotional habits (Mark 1:35)

3. Poor self-discipline. (I Tim. 4:7,8)

4. Failure to give priority of our time, energy and attention to prayer and the ministry of the word. (Prov. 16: 18, Acts 6.2-4)

5. Failure to put away the works of the flesh and to put on the character qualities of Jesus Christ. (Eph. 4:28-32) Inability or unwillingness to study and obey the scriptures (2 Tim. 2:15, 2 Tim. 3:16,17)

6. Failure to engage in quality Christian fellowship. (Heb. 10:24,25) Failure to confess our sins and the willingness to ask God to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9)

7. Failure to continue to grow in all aspects in love. (I Cor. 13)

8. Failure to walk in the light as He is in the light.(I John 1:7)

9. Failure to fix our eyes on things above instead of on things on the earth (Col. 3:1-4)

10. Failure to remember that the joy of the Lord is our strength. (Neh. 8:10)

11. Failure to meditate on the scripture so that we may be able to obey all that is writtein in it. (Josh. 1:8,9)

12. Failure to be a fighter for the faith. (I Tim. 6:12

Growing weary in well doing. (Gal. 6:9,10)

13. Setting wicked things before our eyes. (Psa. 101:3)

14. Failure to fear the Lord (Prov. 14:26)

Results of Spiritual Regression

1. A loss of power, perspective and fruitfulness. (James 4:1-12)