Every Christian faces obstacles in their walk with the Lord-both in prosperity or lack thereof. The difference between those who keep growing in their love for Jesus and those who are stunted is how they view the obstacles: as stepping stones, or barriers.
There are three main categories of things that stunt growth in love for Jesus.
1) The inability to accept correction.
Arrogance is a hindrance to growing in our love for Jesus. Unfortunately, most do not discern their arrogance and must be lovingly corrected by their brothers and sisters in Christ.
Genuine and loving correction leads to self-examination. This genuine correction is both affirming and rebuking as modeled by Jesus: affirming God’s love for us while rebuking our sin.
Refusing to accept genuine correction is a refusal to comprehend the depth of God’s love for us.
2) The unwillingness to change and grow.
Jesus often related the Christian walk to farming: planting and growing seeds, harvesting the results. Growth requires change, and getting rid of the old, not allowing difficulties to halt progress.
3) The susceptibility to confusing the journey for the destination.
A person either sees themselves as a citizen of the world with a passing interest in Heaven, or as a traveler passing through a strange land on their way to the final destination. They will conform to the world’s views, or act as a transforming agent to change the world for Christ.
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The Church of the Apostles - Reaching the lost and equipping the saints since 1987.
Dr Michael Youssef, Founding Rector.
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