Life today is busy. Folks everywhere have schedules brimming with tasks and activities. Some weeks, it’s hard enough to make sure the bills are paid, meals are cooked, and the laundry is done—let alone to keep up with job responsibilities and relationships. Who has time to focus on spiritual growth?

The difficult truth is that as believers, we don’t have an option: we either grow spiritually or become stagnant. There’s no middle ground. What about you? Would you say that you are maturing spiritually—becoming more and more like Jesus in the way you think, speak, and act? Or is something holding you back in your relationship with Him?

Our spiritual growth ultimately depends on God as He perfects His work in us (Phil.1:6). But many Christians avoid doing their part to mature in the Lord because of what it cost them. They fail to realize that stalling their spiritual growth for the sake of worldly things has a cost of its own—one far more serious and burdensome.

When we stop growing spiritually, our ears become dull to the Holy Spirit’s voice and we inevitably drift away from the Father’s best for our life. This has all kinds of consequences, from making our relationships more difficult to weakening our ability to withstand temptation. I pray that this article will inspire you to put God first in your life. I encourage you to pray verses 23-24 of Psalm 139:

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

Try me and know my anxious thoughts;

And see if there be any hurtful way in my,

And lead me in the everlasting way.

Open your heart to the Lord and ask Him to reveal what you can do to keep moving forward. He may want you to give something up, or take something on. In any case, remember: Obedience always brings blessings—now and in eternity.

By faith I keep pressing on!