As I travel the world many Christians ask me how they will know when they have grown spiritually. Now many Christians think there is a certain number of prayers they must pray, hours to fast, or even a certain amount of money they must give to the church before they go up to the next level in God. Many other Christians measure their maturity in God by the number of Christian workshops, conferences, and seminars they attended.

It seems the Church of American is hell-bent on going to every fest and gathering advertised on Christian TV, while forsaking attendance at their local Church. We must not forsake an absolute (attending our local church) in God for something that is an optional (attending workshops, conferences, and seminars) in God. The latest twist is having something for the entire family or combining many mini-conferences into one mega-fest or gathering. Brethren please do not be deceived by this worldly marketing scheme for your money and time. Attending Christian workshops, conferences, and seminars will do nothing for your spiritual maturity in God. The hyper-spiritual Christians think their spiritual growth and development is measured by God according to the number of times He is able to move through them in supernatural ways. When I begin to think like this I am always reminded of Balaam's ass (Numbers 22:21 -30) speaking. And still yet many Christians believe suffering for God is a sign of spiritual maturity. Suffering for God is moving more in the right direction, but my friend suffering almost always comes with a lesson to learn and if we fail to learn the lesson God desires to teach us through suffering (even God ordained suffering) we will not benefit spiritually. It is sad to think one would suffer for God and at the end receive nothing for their time and effort. But this will be the case for many Christians who suffered and did not learn what God was teaching them. Well my friend, none of these works measure spiritual growth and development in our lives. Spiritual development, real spiritual maturity is not measured in what but in how. We need to get this thought deep down in our spirit. It is not what we do that counts, but how we do things.

I would like to share what I believe are three areas in our lives that can reflect spiritual growth in our lives. The first is h ow we handle our earthly resources, those riches which are not spiritual or righteous. What do we invest our money and time in? Jesus asked, “ If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches ?” (Luke 16:11) If we are not faithful in that which does not apply directly to God's righteousness then He can not and will not commit righteous things to us. If we cannot be trusted to handle what we call unspiritual things (like money, cars, houses, our time, abilities, and talents) how can God trust us with spiritual things? How we handle unrighteous and unspiritual riches will determine if God can trust us with spiritual and righteous things, “who will commit to your trust the true riches?” Here Jesus is drawing a parallel between earthly and heavenly riches. Here Jesus uses the word “true” which always takes something out of the earthly realm and projects it into the spiritual. For example when Jesus said, “ . . . but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.” (John 6:32) Then in verse 35 Jesus says , “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” I am convinced God is more concerned about the unrighteous and unspiritual things we do then the spiritual and righteous. How we handle unrighteous and unspiritual riches determine if God can trust us with righteous and spiritual things, the weightier things of God; His wisdom, mercy, and judgment. If not God, then “who will commit to your trust” these riches?

The next area is easy to see because it has to do with our hearing. Our hearing (our understanding) often leads us to a knowing of God far surpassed in our speaking. This is why it is better to be quiet and still when seeking after God and knowing His ways. We know the spiritual truth, out of our mouth speaks our heart, but it is the hearing of our heart, through our many words, that reveals our “true” spiritual development or not. You know I can always tell where someone is in God by how they pray. And in the hearing there is a knowing of spiritual maturity. Often we tell God what we want Him to do for us and we call it prayer. Well, that is not what God calls prayer. Prayer, “true” prayer is always spontaneous and comes forth from the depths of our spirit, not our emotions, wants, and desires. God has a sovereign will in all things. And if He has to change it for our benefit do not think we have won, oh no my friend we have failed. God changes His sovereign will for our lives only when His plan is in jeopardy of being lost and we must delivered. When I came back from Germany I was sharing at a home group on Sunday night. There was a Christian lady in the hospital dying of old age. The home group would pray binding the spirit of death and sickness demanding God save her live, well I felt God was saying she was going to die. I was asked to lead the arm twisting of God (praying), but I prayed for God's will to be done. After the prayer I was scolded for not having any faith. My faith had nothing to do with it, but it was all about God's will for her life. The lady died and the home group was heart broken and thought God had turned His back on the lady and them. Then I shared about God's sovereignty in all areas of our lives even our death. Brethren, we must allow God to be God. We must come to a place of spiritual maturity where we accept whatsoever God's desires to bring into our lives even if it is cancer. Is not God in-charge of all things in our lives? We must come to a place in God like Jesus prayed, “ Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” (Luke 22:42) We must come to a place of spiritual maturity not needing to tell God what to do, but giving Him full permission to bring His will for our lives to the end He has purposed. Praying for God's will in all things is a “true” sign of spiritual growth and maturity.

And the third and most important sign of our spiritual growth and development is how we handle truth. What do we do when we come face-to-face with something that is “true?” Do we manipulate truth to support our beliefs and doctrines? Do we project truth into the spiritual realm for our edification and our glory? Most Christians want the truth that flows with spiritual gifts to be approved of men. If this is our motive then we have failed in the functioning and movement with God. Do we use truth in the natural to develop us more and more into the character and image of Jesus Christ? What do we do with the truth in an issue or event when last time we were brought to a place of decision and we moved in non-truth or lied. My friend this is a big area to God. If God cannot trust us to be truthful, full of integrity and honesty, how can He use us in spiritual matters? Handling truth, in the simplistic delivery of the Gospel, is the hallmark of usefulness to God. One that handles truth correctly is obedient and disciplined in their spiritual and physical lives. One who handles truth correctly is trustworthy and God can now trust them with His goods . Jesus talks of this type of Christian, “For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.” (Matthew 25:14) Please notice the servant did not get their own goods it was the goods of their master. The Master, the Lord, the King comes and He calls His servant and says here are My goods, I entrust them to you, to your keeping, to your working. You take these and carry them. These goods will be yours responsibly. My friend if God cannot trust us with His goods then there will never ever be any signs of spiritual growth and development in our lives. Oh we may dance around, shout and sing, acting like God is using us, but in “true” truth we are not trustworthy we are disqualified for service. Brethren let us not look for signs of spiritual growth in our lives, but allow God to so work in our lives, through His dealings and judgments, to such a degree that our very lives will be the evidence on which to measure spiritual growth and development.