Someone shared the following stages of spiritual development with me, and I'd like to challenge you to read and ponder each one.
1. There is no room for sloppiness or laziness in any area of our Christian life. Hebrews 6:12 reminds us not to become lazy but to imitate those who through faith and patience, inherit what has been promised.
2. The most essential form of knowledge for the Christian life is the knowledge of God's will as revealed in the Scripture. Jesus commands us to seek first His Kingdom and all other things will be added.
3. We must discipline our emotions, our attitudes, our appetites and our thoughts. Discipline must govern our actions and most importantly, our reactions. Matthew 5:44 says "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."Second Peter 1:4-8 provides the basis for our stages of development. "For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge self-control, and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."
4. Develop perseverance which is the ability to overcome various tests and trials that will inevitably expose any weak, undisciplined areas of our personality.
5. Put on godliness which is the mark of a person whose life is centered in God - a vessel to be used by God.
6. Develop brotherly kindness - the way we relate to each other as fellow believers and disciples of Jesus.
7. Put on agape love - the fully ripe fruit of the Christian Character--God's own kind of Love--given to us through the power and blessing of the Holy Spirit.
