How Can I Grow In My Faith?

For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. (1 Timothy 4:8)

 

People can have very different opinions on body building, CrossFit, and Powerlifting, but regardless of your thoughts on the idea of mammoth muscles, we would all have to agree that they don’t come from swiping through social media or lifting a Little Debbie to your mouth. It only comes from commitment, hard work, and proper planning. And just like building bulging biceps doesn’t happen by accident, neither does growing in our faith. In fact, the main components of strength training have significant parallels in growing our faith.

 

Everyone that is a serious weight lifter can testify to the importance of committing to regular training. It involves a personalized plan, the ability to adjust as necessary, and goals that will progressively strengthen the body. When building muscle, if a lifter isolates one part of the body too much, the result is an imbalance in other muscle growth and kind of an odd physique. In our faith we can do the same. If we only read the Bible or only go to Church, we are not developing all of our faith muscles. We may end up having a deep knowledge of the Bible but may be ineffective in our prayer life or spiritually prideful when dealing with others. A robust faith includes all of the Spiritual Disciplines, tailored to where we are so that both our strengths and weaknesses grow as we progress more and more toward spiritual maturity.

 

Proper nutrition is another strength component that parallels faith development. A serious lifter will not only monitor what they eat and drink but will have a carefully chosen plan on how to supplement what they ingest. For faith, this means we not only daily read the Bible but we also guard the content and ideas that social media, media in general, and others are influencing us about. The thing about nutrition is that you can make gains, both physically and spiritually, with poor nutrition. But there are limits to both if we are just ingesting whatever junk comes our way. We don’t fill the gas tanks of our cars with soda and expect it to run, we put in gasoline. Our faith should be treated with no less dignity.  

 

Getting good rest is often overlooked in both strength and faith training. When someone starts to see progress in weight training, it can lead to a false sense that more training means more gains. But getting adequate rest is needed so that the muscles can rebuild and true strengthening can occur. Our faith has a similarly needed rhythm and the beautiful thing is that God demonstrated it from the beginning. Taking a rest in regards to faith does not mean to stop believing. Rather it means setting aside time to actually rest from our daily activities, even good activities. It means taking time to be still before the Lord, to pray, to listen; to get back to a place of trust is so important. We have a tendency to just be overly busy so this component requires discipline. But it is so worth it and the gains in your faith will overflow into the lives of others.

 

Having a workout partner is another parallel idea, and while it may seem overrated, the actual results prove how incredibly helpful it is. They can rescue you when the weight is too heavy, watch that your form is correct, and their very presence in the room will make you work harder. The same is true in our spiritual walk. Encouragement, accountability, and motivation are regular results from meeting with other Christians. It does require humility, honesty, and trust but going through difficulty with a friend is incredibly better than going it alone. God designed us for community and knows it is not good for us to be alone. He has placed you in a local church, take advantage of it!

 

At the beginning of the year, I set my sights on joining the 1000 pound club. In weightlifting, it means the combined weight of the three main lifts will be 1000 pounds or more. I made a plan, tracked all my data, and ultimately achieved the goal. But what I found surprised me. I allowed myself a week off to celebrate and recover. Then another. And then another, and suddenly I found motivation to be a problem and excuses abundant. I began half heartedly lifting and realized that I had already lost some of my gains. What it demonstrated in my body reflects our spiritual life as well. When we don’t purpose to grow in our faith, we become stagnant and sometimes even lose ground. This is not what God has called us to. He has created us for good work, to grow our faith, and help others. But the barbell of faith will not pick itself up. The weightplates won’t put themselves on the bar and our faith won’t grow if we don’t purpose to. So go make a spiritual growth plan and start growing your faith muscles!

 

Here are some questions to ask yourself and others to spark some spiritual conversations:  

 

1. As you look at your “faith training”—spiritual disciplines, healthy influences, rest, and Christian community—which area needs the most attention, and why?

 

2. What habits, distractions, or excuses might be keeping your faith from growing? What is one specific change you could make this week?

 

3. What would a realistic spiritual growth plan look like for this season of your life, and who could encourage you and help you stay committed?