1. Reading your Bible and Praying does not equal growth.
The kingdom is not a rewards system. Reading the bible will not grant you more favor with God, and not reading your bible will not grant you less favor. Being forced to read words out of a book every single day of your life will not spontaneously make you a more holy and powerful person. It’s the passion and desire to grow that will bring you to read the bible and pray, bringing you closer to God. Being constantly aware of God and his heart is much more effective than forcing yourself to read the bible.
2. Sinning does not equal failure.
Don’t call yourself a worthless failure just because you messed up recently. Beating yourself up for doing something is not going to help. Jesus already paid the price for your sin, and he no longer sees it. The sin issue has already been dealt with thousands of years ago. Learn to walk in your newly given identity of holiness.
3. Fellowship occurs out of church as well.
Church is not the only place that you can have fellowship. In fact, according to many of my experiences, I often have better fellowship outside of the church building than inside. That’s because you don’t go to a church, you are a church. Learn to build fellowship wherever you go and grow wherever you are.
4. Low self esteem is not spiritual humility.
Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking about yourself less. Humility does not mean you beat down on yourself, saying that you suck, but humility is giving the credit to the one who made you awesome.
5. Stop waiting for the “voice of God”.
How many times have you caught yourself waiting for God to reveal himself before you take action on something? The truth is, he has already adequately revealed himself in the word, where his will can be found. I am not discounting God giving people specifics about their life, but using waiting on God to give you a sign as an excuse for inaction is highly ineffective as well.
6. Get around people who will pull you up, not just people who say they’re “christians”.
Learn to find and value the relationships in which people build you up. Spend time growing and fellowshipping with these people, so that you can help others in return. Don’t settle for hanging around people who are lukewarm, cause that will drain the life out of you. Love them, but give a place for people who will actually build you up to speak into your life.
7. Maintain passion.
It’s easy to pursue Christ when you are fired up and passionate, it is difficult when you are only half passionate. Never forget why you love God, and simply grow from there. Passion is contagious. And if you have no idea why you should be passionate about God, you should figure that out.
8. Christ lives in you.
Nothing is more powerful than knowing that Christ didn’t just leave you, he lives in you. Check out Galatians 2:20. Your identity is Christ, so stop trying to be like Christ, be Christ.
9. You are a world changer.
Jesus left every believer with a commission: to go into all the world and preach the kingdom. Not only are you left with a commission, but you have also been granted the ability to accomplish the commission. You are not a worthless, insignificant person because Christ lives in you.
10. He loves you more than you know.
His vast grace and love is limitless and boundless. He is the perfect father, always in a good mood. God will never be angry at you.
