There’s a pothos on my kitchen windowsill that I was sure hadn’t grown in two years. Then I went away for a long weekend and came home to a vine hanging halfway down the cabinet. It had been growing the whole time. I just wasn’t looking properly. Faith works a lot like that, I think. Ask most churchgoers what is spiritual growth and you’ll usually get a pause, then something about “getting closer to God,” which is true but a little foggy.
Part of the problem is that we’re used to speed. Packages turn up on the porch the next morning, and a few rounds at lamalucky casino on a Friday night give you a result in seconds, win or lose. The soul doesn’t run on that clock. It grows the way that pothos did, mostly while nobody’s watching.
So What Is Spiritual Growth, Anyway
My working definition, for what it’s worth: slowly becoming more like Jesus in the everyday stuff. How you talk to the cashier. What you do with a grudge. Whether you pray on days when nothing is wrong. You can’t really measure it in chapters read (although reading helps), and it isn’t a feeling you can leave switched on.
Here are some signs it might be happening, in no special order:
- you apologize faster than you used to
- bits of Scripture pop into your head at odd moments, like in the shower
- sometimes you notice what other people need before what you need (sometimes!)
- old temptations get a bit quieter, even if they never fully leave
- your prayers get more honest, cranky parts included
If you only spot one of those, that still counts.
Spiritual Growth in the Bible: Seeds, Wheat and a Twelve-Year-Old
The Bible talks about growth all the time, and nearly always with farm pictures. My favorite is a tiny parable in Mark 4 that most people skip right over. A man scatters seed, goes to bed, gets up, goes to bed again, and the seed comes up “he knoweth not how.” Then Jesus walks through the stages:
“For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.” (Mark 4:28, KJV)
Blade, ear, full corn. Nobody shouts at the blade for not being corn yet. I find that strangely freeing.
Then there’s Luke 2. At twelve, Jesus gets left behind in Jerusalem, and three days later his parents find him in the temple, sitting with the teachers, “both hearing them, and asking them questions.” Luke adds that he “increased in wisdom and stature.” So even Jesus grew up one stage at a time. A few more growth verses worth keeping close:
| Verse | The Picture | What It Says About Growing |
|---|---|---|
| Mark 4:28 | wheat coming up in stages | it happens in order, one step after another |
| 1 Corinthians 3:6 | Paul planting, Apollos watering | we do our part, and God gives the increase |
| Luke 2:52 | a boy growing up | wisdom grows right alongside ordinary life |
| 2 Peter 3:18 | the last line of Peter’s letters | “grow in grace” is how he chose to sign off |
Youth Activities for Spiritual Growth That Teens Won’t Roll Their Eyes At
Teenagers can spot a forced activity from across the parking lot. What tends to work is hands-on and a bit social, with very little lecturing. A few ideas that usually land:
- an anonymous question box, answered honestly the following week, awkward questions too
- a morning at a food bank, then talking it over with pizza
- a phone-free campfire night with one psalm read out loud
- pairing each teen with an older church member who writes them actual letters
- swapping worship playlists and explaining why one song matters
- reading a whole short gospel together over a month (Mark is a good one)
Notice what’s missing? Worksheets. Kids grow the same way grown-ups do, by doing real things next to people who love them. Jesus was asking questions in the temple at twelve. Leave teenagers room to ask theirs.
A Prayer for Spiritual Growth You Can Borrow
Paul wrote to the church in Colossae, people he had never met face to face, and told them he hadn’t stopped praying for them since he first heard about them. What he asked for is still one of the best prayers on the subject:
“That ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.” (Colossians 1:9–10, KJV)
If you’d like something plainer, here’s the one I use. Feel free to steal it: “Lord, I don’t feel like I’m growing, but you know better than I do. Keep working on me while I’m busy and while I’m asleep. Make me kinder than I was last year, and keep me honest with you even when I’m grumpy. Amen.” It’s short on purpose. Long prayers are lovely, but on most mornings I won’t get through one.
Finding Room for It in a Full Week
Most of us aren’t short on wanting to grow. We’re short on Tuesday evenings. Growth doesn’t require a retreat weekend, though. Small habits repeated over and over, fitted into the life you already have, do more than you’d expect.
| If You Have | Try This | Why It Helps |
|---|---|---|
| 5 minutes in the morning | one verse and one sentence of prayer | the day starts facing the right way |
| your commute | a psalm, read aloud or listened to | it fills dead time with something good |
| one evening a week | a small group, or a friend over coffee | people grow faster together |
| a free Saturday | a few hours serving somewhere | faith gets its hands dirty |
Pick one row and stick with it for a month before you add another. Trying all four at once is how most of us quit by February.
Conclusion
So what is spiritual growth? Mostly invisible and very real, a bit like that pothos on my windowsill. You won’t catch it happening day to day, and you don’t need to. Keep showing up, ask your honest questions, and borrow someone else’s prayer when your own words run out. God handles the increase. If you want somewhere to start with Scripture itself, our devotion on grasping God’s Word is a good next read.
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