As a coach and pastor’s wife, I really enjoy working with women who want to live intentionally and align their life with God’s desires for them. One of the most exciting things is to watch them grow spiritually and deepen their faith. It’s sometimes easy to begin that relationship with Christ, but it can be really hard to “live it out” on a day-to-day basis — especially when hard times come.
One of the things that I love about coaching is that we evaluate where we currently are and then can take the necessary steps to move forward and grow. Even if you’re not where you want to be yet, it’s ok. The important thing is being honest about where you really are currently and then you can work to change that. Often times we try to avoid looking at the reality or just find a way to work around it so that we don’t have to face it. But by getting a good look and honestly evaluating it, we can make deep, significant changes that last.
Here’s a list of 4 stages of spiritual maturity and some of the typical characteristics of each. Which stage do you identify with?
1. Salvation
2. A desire to please God
- struggle with “self” being in control instead of the Spirit
- feel other Christians are better Christians, or stronger believers, than they are and live out their faith better
- feel close to God at church or an event, such as a conference, retreat, or camp, but then afterwards it quickly fades and they face temptation of just wanting to please “self“
- describe their spiritual life as a “roller coaster
3. Death to self
- want Christ to live out His life through them
- “die“to self/their rights and give control of their life to Christ
- choose to place their own will under God’s hand
- this isn’t just a one-time thing — it must be done daily, sometimes even hourly!
4. Ability to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving
- able to thank God for the painful things in life that they don’t understand or even like
- express total trust in God because of who they know Him to be
- know God is good and that He uses pain in their lives for His redemptive purposes
Did you find yourself in one of those stages?
What is it like for you to live in that stage? What would living in the next stage look like for you? What could you do to move into the next stage? What will you do to get there?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic!
