Grow

All healthy things grow.  At Living Word Church we believe that we all need to be growing spiritually. In fact we should never stop!

But, how can I know if I am growing spiritually, and how well I am really doing?  These are really good questions. To try and help you please take a look at these 4 steps to tracking your spiritual growth.

Step 1 - Exploring Christ

"I believe in God, but I'm not sure about Christ. My faith is not a significant part of my life." 

Many individuals like this are rarely seen in church. It isn't relevant to them. They are comfortable staying at this rather vague spiritual stage. However, some are interested in learning more about Jesus and exploring what they believe (or don't believe) a little deeper.

Step 2 - Growing In Christ

"I believe in Jesus and I am working on what it means to get to know Him." 

This is a very good step, but not one you are likley to make much progress with on your own. It is much better to meet with people who know Jesus personally and can help you to do this too. Sadly, for many churches people at Step 2 represents the largest grouping of people in their church. However, they are often quite active in the church and their spiritual growth may be steady or stagnant. So, it's an 'ok' stage as long as you are moving forward, but not a good one if you are standing still for a long time.

Step 3 - Close To Christ

"I feel really close to Christ and depend on Him daily for guidance."

For many this surely is the final step. After all, how much further can you go?  Let us try and explain.  

Two key words that describe the "Close To Christ" follower are "personal" and "public". Their faith is growing and they have taken their faith public. Having said that, "Close To Christ", and the final step of "Christ Centered" are often the two most difficult stages to distinguish between. One of the key words that seem to separate one from the other is "surrender". Please don't get worried about trying to determine if you sre Close to Christ or Christ Centered. It may be helpful enough just to see these two stages and realise that you are somewhere on that path.

Step 4 - Christ-Centered

"My relationship with Jesus is the most important relationship in my life. It guides everything I do."

This person has walked into the deep end of surrendering. We are not saying that the Close to Christ person is not surrendered, but being Christ-centered takes it to a whole new level.

Whichever step you are on we would love to help you on your journey. Please let us know how we might be able to do this by contacting us and/or coming along to see us one Sunday morning.

Why is all of this important?  It is because YOU are important to God. He loves and cares for you, and wants you to have a personal relationship with Him. But that isn't going to be easy.  We have an enemy that will do all he can to stop this happening. Yet God is always going to be there for you - cheering you on, calling you back and never giving up on you.