Personal Development

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ! I am Pastor Rod Holland, Dean of Elders and Ministers, here at Salem Bible Church. Shalom! Welcome as we celebrate The Year of Jubilee in this year our Lord 2022 here at Salem. Our theme for this year is “Providing the C.U.R.E. in Christ in a year of Jubilee.” The CURE, C-U-R-E, is an acronym that stands for Consecration, Unification, Recalibration, and Emancipation. The theme scripture for our year of Jubilee comes from Leviticus chapter 25 verses 10 through 13 and it says:

10Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each of you is to return to your family property and to your own clan. 11The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines. 12For it is a jubilee and is to be holy for you; eat only what is taken directly from the fields.

13“ ‘In this Year of Jubilee everyone is to return to their own property.

Today, I want to focus on the C in CURE which again stands for consecration. To be more specific, I want to talk to you about one of the pillars of consecration which is the personal development of the believer. And when I say personal development, it’s not the personal development from a self-help perspective where you can go into any bookstore and find secular books on the topic but rather personal development from a spiritual perspective. In essence, I want to talk about your spiritual growth journey; a journey that leads toward spiritual maturity in Christ. The theme scripture for this lesson will come from Luke chapter 2 verse 52. It reads as follows: And Jesus continued to advance in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. You see, Jesus is the perfect example to whom we should follow if we are to grow toward spiritual maturity. Therefore, in this lesson I will discuss the following points. Point one: Personal development for the Christian is a spiritual growth journey that is fraught with opposition. Point two: You will need help in your journey to spiritual maturity. Point three: There are practical steps you must take in your journey to spiritual maturity. And finally point four: The inward and outward signs of spiritual maturity. So, let’s get started with point one!

Personal Development for the Christians is a spiritual growth journey fraught with opposition.

For the purpose of this lesson, personal development is defined as a spiritual growth journey with the goal of achieving a level of spiritual maturity. Achieving that goal won’t be easy, but we will discuss how God has given us all we need for our spiritual growth journey. In our theme scripture for this lesson, Luke is narrating the first of two teaching sessions by Jesus in the Jerusalem temple. In this first session, Jesus is already at the age of 12 years old and has already started on his path to spiritual maturity. Notice in this passage the word ‘continue’ which, in Greek, is proekopten which means to “cut one’s way forward” … meaning the path to his spiritual maturity wasn’t easy. This implies there were some oppositions to Jesus’ path to spiritual maturity and therefore you can expect oppositions as well on your journey toward spiritual maturity. As you know Jesus was constantly opposed by the Pharisees and Sadducees in his day as well as tempted by Satan on a few occasions. So, what am I saying? I’m saying, again, Jesus is the perfect example to whom we should follow if we are to grow toward spiritual maturity. Satan’s desire is that you do not become a mature Christian. A mature Christian has the effect of being like a powerful lighthouse whose light can penetrate the darkest of hearts, which in turn, leads the non-believer to Christ. As opposition to becoming a mature Christian, Satan will try to entice and discourage you from the path to spiritual maturity. The path Satan prefers you to take is worldly path of self-gratification, a path of self-glorification. He will try to convince you that your past sins makes you unworthy of striving for spiritual maturity. For he knows that the Christian who focuses on himself cannot focus on the will of God in their lives. Of course, this is not to say you cannot achieve a level of spiritual maturity but as stated earlier, expect some opposition in your journey of achieving this goal. Which leads us to point two.

You will need help in your journey to spiritual maturity.

Although there will be opposition to your spiritual growth, the good news is that God has given you all you need to overcome the temptations of Satan. What is it God has given us? It is Christ, and Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 1: “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” Paul gives us his own testimony when it comes to his spiritual growth journey in Philippians [chapter 3 verses 12 through 16] when he says, “Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind; and if you think differently about anything, this too God will reveal to you. Only let us hold fast to what we have attained.” Paul is telling us in these passages that he pursues Christlikeness with the enthusiasm and persistence of a runner in the Greek games and we should too. Unlike the Judaizers, whose influence was prevalent among the Philippians, Paul did not claim to have attained spiritual maturity. He was still pressing on, pursuing that for which Christ Jesus took hold of him (Paul tells us he is “pressing on and pursuing” meaning he is struggling toward spiritual maturity, but he will not stop). He goes on to say, Nor had he yet taken hold of it, that is, he had not yet attained perfection or ultimate conformity to Christ. But he was determined that he would forget the past and, like a runner, press on toward the goal (remember, I said earlier Satan will try to remind you of your past to keep you from growing spiritually but Paul does not let his past weigh him down nor should you). Which brings us back to our theme scripture. If Christ took the time for personal development so should we, like Paul, also imitate Christ and take time for personal development. At this point, I think it would be appropriate to discuss what Christ has given the believer in order to be successful in our spiritual growth journey. For you see Christ, in his infinite wisdom, knew that we would need a daily champion to aid us in our journey toward spiritual maturity. This champion is the Paraclete otherwise known as the Holy Spirit, your advocate, your counselor that is with you on your spiritual growth journey. If properly fed, the Holy Spirit gives you the strength daily to overcome Satan’s opposition and to move you toward your goal of spiritual maturity. We will talk a little later in this lesson about what it means to feed the Holy Spirit. Just know you have been equipped by God to develop spiritual maturity. Which brings us to point three.

The practical steps toward spiritual maturity and therefore personal development.

Up to this point, we have talked about the opposition you will face when it comes to spiritual growth and what is provided to you to overcome this opposition. When we talk about the practical step toward spiritual growth we then turn toward what is needed from you. In essence, what are the steps expected of you in this journey toward spiritual maturity, i.e., your personal development plan as a Christian? Let me suggest a few steps that you will need to adhere to if you are to be successful in growing spiritually. Some of these are required and others are highly recommended. First, on the required list for spiritual growth is prayer. Prayer is important because it makes us more like Jesus and reveals to us the heart and mind of God. Therefore, we pray not because it changes God but rather it changes us toward being more like Christ. Remember, Paul said that he imitates Christ, and so should we and prayer is what get us there. The second required step toward spiritual maturity is reading God’s Word. God’s word reveals the will of God and His love for all that he has created. Recall, I stated earlier that the Holy Spirit must be properly fed if one is going to have the strength to daily overcome Satan’s opposition and to move you toward your goal of spiritual maturity. What is the nourishment that is needed by the Holy Spirit and therefore by you? It is the word of God! We must be in his Word daily. In Matthew, Jesus says “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” His Word literally feeds us, but it’s up to us to read His word and meditate on it. Which brings me to the third step toward spiritual maturity: meditating. Meditating is finding a quiet place where you can focus on God through a passage or passages you have read as a part of your daily bible reading. Its goal is to help strengthen your relationship with God and therefore strengthening you on your spiritual growth journey. Other practical steps toward your spiritual maturity, that are highly recommended, includes keeping a journal, having an accountability partner, being a part of a small growth group, and even helping those who are the marginalized (i.e., the poor, the homeless) in society. Keeping a journal allows you to write down your daily thoughts. The key thing about writing a journal is that it’s a place to spiritually share yourself with God and with yourself. You’re literally pouring out your thoughts to God, but you’re also part of the audience, because you can go back to your journal to see how you have spiritually grown…or perhaps how you have stalled in our spiritual growth. What about small groups? Small groups are a proven place to find support you need to live a Christ-centered life, which can be an essential component to spiritual growth. Finally, helping those that have been marginalized not only aid those in need but also develops a spirit of serving others in you which help promotes spiritual growth. All of these steps are roles you play in your journey toward spiritual maturity. Then taking all this in consideration, how do you know if you are making progress toward your goal of spiritual maturity? This bring us to our final point, point 4.

The inward and outward signs of spiritual growth

Let us start with the inward signs of spiritual growth. They include qualities of forgiveness, contentment, conviction, knowing right from wrong but choosing what is right, peace that surpasses all understanding even in a world of chaos, joy, self-reflection and living with an eternal perspective. Each of these do not come easy but comes forth from the spirit as we draw closer in our relationship with God through Christ. Having a heart of forgiveness demonstrates that we are able to let go of obstacles which would hinder us as Christians in carrying out God’s will. Contentment allows us to keep our focus on God and not being overcome by worldly pursuits. Knowing right from wrong but choosing what is right allows us to be a beacon, a light onto the world that helps the lost find Christ. Having joy in a world full of despair demonstrates the trust you have in God and the love you have for Him and his Word. Self-reflection demonstrated our constant need for God and for His grace and mercy. Finally, living with an eternal perspective shows we trust God’s eschatological plan for us…that is, we trust Christ will return for his people where we will join him in eternal communion in his kingdom. These are but a few inward signs of a mature Christian.

As for the outward signs of spiritually mature Christians, the world sees these Christians as loving, joyful, patient, peaceful, kind, generous, faithful, and gentle. These are the Christians who allow the Holy Spirit to lead them rather than the flesh. They are in the community helping those who are the marginalized, consistently serving the church, and know when they hear false teachings from the world. Are they perfect? No! We are all imperfect due to sin in this world and that’s why Paul said he was pressing toward the mark…meaning he was constantly pursuing the mark even while acknowledging his imperfections!

In summary, your spiritual growth, your personal development as a Christian, is a journey with the goal of becoming a mature Christian. Although we know Satan will try to keep you from that goal, we have a Father in heaven that loves us so much that he allowed his son to be sacrificed so that we might be reunited back to Him but that wasn’t all. He wanted us to live an abundant life here on earth and therefore he gave us the tool to be a world conqueror. He gave us the Holy Spirit that if we abided in Christ, obey his word and pray, the Holy Spirit would guide us to spiritual maturity.

If you have found you have strayed from the path of spiritual growth, it’s never too late to get back on that path. In this year of Jubilee here at Salem, it is a time for consecration, unification, recalibration and emancipation. Which, we have stated earlier, stands for CURE and we have the cure to helping you to stay on your spiritual growth path or getting you back on your spiritual growth path if you have strayed. You can start by joining one our Jubilee Growth Groups. There are three ways you can register to join: by going to salembiblechurg.org/jubilee or if you have one of our Jubilee cards, you can scan the QR code, or you can visit our Coin-o-nia help desk in the lobby at either our Atlanta or Lithonia locations during our Sunday services.

On behalf of the pastors, Sr. Pastor Dr. Joseph L. Williams and Pastor Emeritus Jasper Williams, Jr. we thank you for joining us today and we pray that you were blessed by this lesson. Shalom!