Attitudes Of Spiritual Growth

Attitudes Of Spiritual Growth

1 Pet. 3:8

8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: .

Joke: Daddy, are you still growing ? the little girl asked ?

No honey, why do you ask ? was the reply

Because, Daddy, the top of your head is coming through your hair !

Do you remember as a child how that you would compare your height to that of your parents ? You would measure your physical growth to theirs ! Your desire was to grow, to reach the height of your parents.

How about your spiritual growth ? How do you measure up compared to when you first believed ? How’s your spiritual growth in the last year ? Tonight I want us to look at attitudes of Spiritual growth.

If I am growing, it will be shown not only in my knowledge, my actions, but also in my attitudes !

I. If I am growing, it will be seen in my attitude of harmony !

The words "one mind" refer to harmony ! The word "harmony" means "to agree".

If harmony means "to agree", then what does the lack of harmony mean. The lack of harmony would be "to disagree".

One of the tell/tell signs of a lack of spiritual maturity is "disharmony" or "disagreements".

Show me a person that is always in disagreement, and I’ll show you a person who is either unsaved or spiritually immature, and needs to grow up !

The church of Corinth was such a church ! They were spiritually immature, and the result was "disharmony and disagreements" !

Notice 1 Cor 3:3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men ?

The early church was one that abounded in spiritual harmony !

Acts 1:14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication..............

The result........Acts 2:44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;

* The result of spiritual harmony...........Acts 2:47 Praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

Acts 4:32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one soul: neither said any of them that aught of the things which eh possessed was his own; but they had all things common.

How did they arrive at this point ? The secret to the attitude of harmony may be found in V31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

*Harmony is a definite attitude of spiritual growth, and maturity ! The key to such an attitude is praying together, and being filled with the Holy Spirit ! The result to such spiritual harmony will be growth in the church !

Could this mean that the growth of the church may depend upon the personal spiritual growth of the believers ?

Illustration

A man was visiting an insane asylum one day, and he noticed that all the insane people were on the field outside, but there was only one guard. He asked the guard, "Aren’t you afraid?" The guard said, "Absolutely not." He said, "Don’t you believe that since you are the only one here, these people could over-run you and break out of the asylum?" He said, "That’s impossible." The man asked, "Why is that impossible?" The guard replied, "Because lunatics don’t unite !

2. If I Am Growing, It Will Be Seen In My Attitude Of Compassion. V8

The word "compassion" means "to suffer along with another".

In Heb 4:15 the word is translated "to be touched with".....referring to Christ as the High Priest !

Illust.

Joni Erickson Tada is the president of JET ministries, a ministry which aims to serve the disabled. She is herself a quadriplegic. A few years ago she was a spectator at the Los Angeles Special Olympics. Her husband Ken was an official, coordinator for track and field events. Joni was among a large crowd watching the participants prepare for the 50 metres running race.

After some time lining up the starters gun fired and off the contestant raced. As they rushed toward the finish line one boy left the track and started running toward his friends standing in the infield. Ken blew his whistle, trying to get the boy to come back to the track, but all to no avail.

Then one of the other competitors noticed, a down syndrome girl with thick bottle glasses. She stopped just short of the finish line and called out to the boy, "Stop, come back, this is the way." Hearing the voice of her friend the boy stopped and looked. "Come back, this is the way" she called. The boy stood there, confused. His friend, realising he was confused, left the track and ran over to him. She linked arms with him and together they ran back to the track and finished the race. They were the last to cross the line, but were greeted by hugs from their fellow competitors and a standing ovation from the crowd.