Jean Piaget developed ideas on cognitive growth. Occasionally, his curiosity causes a crash, but the bumps and bruises serve as testimony to growth. Rebellion can begin to show, and discipline is needed to correct it. So there you have the 5 stages of the spiritual growth of a disciple. You can believe in all the Cross teaches about sin and salvation, but mere belief isn’t what the Cross is all about. Too often those who begin to experience this arid, desert like experience in their spiritual lives ignore it and keep doing what they’re doing until they just run out of steam. Wait, wait, wait in stillness until you reach the silence which is the voice of the Beloved, then on the inhale, speak inwardly, “Jesus,” and on the exhale, “Mercy,” or some other simple prayer. L) Find good and Godly, Biblically correct teachers to learn from (1st Corinthians 4:12-17, Hebrews 6:11-12) Paidion believers seem to experience a resurgence of the Adamic nature, and rebelliousness against the “rules” of Christian living. The next stage, stage four in Christian growth, is what I call “The Second Awakening.” It is a stage of profound growth, but is often misunderstood. True Spiritual Growth James 1:17-27 If you want to genuinely grow in spiritual maturity, it is not enough to simply be instructed by the Word of God. 5451 τέκνον (teknon), descendant (Acts 2:39); disciple, one who follows a teacher in authority (3rd John 4). See Hebrews 10:25. Do you put GOD’S priorities first in all things? Being. At some point you wake up to the reality of God. First Awakening usually leads to the second stage, which I call “Believing and Belonging.” At this stage in our journey we connect to a community where we learn the essential doctrines of Christianity. But this is just the beginning of a holy new movement of grace in their lives. Stage One . However, it leaves a constriction to your full spiritual growth. You might serve on a committee, volunteer for the choir or as a Sunday School teacher, engage in a service or mission project, train as a minister, respond to a call for missionary service, or become an elder or deacon. an infant (minor); fig. 2:6; 14:20 (“men”; marg., “of full age”); Eph. See Romans 8:14-17, 2nd Corinthians 6:18, Psalm 16:11, Philippians 4:4-7 Last month, I also urged you to be careful not to turn these stages into a program. These words are “NEPIOS”,  “PAIDION”,  “TEKNON”,  “HUIOS”, and “TELIOS”. There are several ways you might get stuck in stage two and fail to move on. This pattern appears consistence throughout the history of Christian spirituality. Since one of my favorite personal growth tools is the map (in my counseling/life and love coaching practice, I’ve discovered that the structure or model of a map helps many people describe their feelings), I want to help you build one. Accepting that others have different beliefs is actually an important stage in spiritual growth and this includes the acceptance of those who believe there is no such thing as a spiritual plane.It is possible to live happily in appreciation of the wonder of being alive in … There seems to be comparatively few who do so, and the consequence is that the Lord is robbed of much of Life!is!generally!all!about!them! Tabor with his disciples and at the top was revealed as the supreme Lord in shimmering glory while all below was shrouded in mist. There’s an equanimity and a magnanimity that possess you. What are we doing to grow in the Lord? Find a quiet place. The First Stage of Spiritual Growth: "First Awakening". Whether your hope for 2010 5:14 cf. The 5 Stages of Spiritual Growth DEFINITIONS, TRAITS & PHRASES . This brings us back to the same question of priorities, for God is saying through the pages of your Bible that maturity, or the full, complete man, is demonstrated by his spiritual concerns. Are you striving to be? God is always free do blow our little maps apart in order to bring us to the fullness offered us in Christ. When you’ve come to the end of the time you’ve allotted for this exercise (you might use a quiet alarm so you don’t have to keep looking at the clock), simply bring your soul to an awareness of the external world outside you. A sure sign that you’re moving through this stage is the presence of an expanding sense of love, for love is the only thing that can lead you along these later stages of spiritual growth. D) Re-train (reprogram) your mind to be “in tune” with God’s way of looking at things (Romans 12:1-2, Philippians 4:8) But now, in Stage Five, your heart directs you, and your head serves your heart of love. God will not be boxed up or caged, nor the path to God turned into a formula. At some point you wake up to the reality of God. So while it’s not inappropriate to explore the path of spiritual growth, we must avoid turning that path into a journey we can engineer on our own, and we must take care not to turn these stages into tools to judge others or ourselves. Are we still an infant (NEPIOS)? I've said that most communities place stage three, “Service and Leadership” at the pinnacle of the Christian life. . (morally) perfect (Mt 5:48; Jas 3:2), for another interpretation, see below; 2. genuine, being true (1st John 4:18); 3. And you’re no longer bothered by the challenges that come your way or lured by opportunities you must take advantage of or lose out. In the posts that follow I’ll offer you a little guide to this ancient and durable practice that’s making a come back in our day—and not a moment too soon, for the state of our world sorely needs the kind of women and men who are shaped by it. But Christian growth requires discomfort. You will still suffer in this stage as much (or even more) that you did before. Each one describes a different stage of spiritual growth and maturity, and relates to a stage of normal physical growth and maturity. Which is fine. “The text doesn’t say ‘fruits,’ but ‘fruit.’ The nine qualities, which follow, grow together. I base this For millennia housewives and blacksmiths, kings and farmers have practiced the Prayer of the Heart, nourishing a vital spiritual life, cultivating virtue, and living humble lives of love and grace, compassion and courage—bringing hope and wholeness to our often fragile and wounded, yet beautiful world. When you hit the Wall spiritually, the Cross is no longer an idea or doctrine, something that happened to Jesus long ago. Jesus had been born (physically), and had grown and matured (Luke 2:52), and now the time was right for Him to “take up the Father’s business”. One way of looking at the spiritual journey is to view it as a journey of six stages. At this stage, you’re discovering God all over again. On the other hand, you may not be trying at all because it sounds like too much work or your resist what appears to be some kind of spiritual elitism. In this stage, your life expresses an integration of your growth so far, a deep rootedness Stage 5: The Seeker. 1 brought to its end, finished. Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek You accept what you look like. can be! Humans are complex beings and each stage of growth includes physical, social, emotion One can also slip backward to … In early life, a child was more directly under the control of the mother than the father; the mother was its first teacher (Proverbs 1:8). Thereafter the father was expected to direct the training of the son [teknon]) (Genesis 18:19; Exodus 12:26; 13:8,14,15; Deuteronomy 6:7). In secular Greek teleios means also: (i) adult, full-grown, as opposed to immature and infantile, and (ii), in connection with mystery-cults, fully initiated. I) Learn to NOT follow the world’s definition of what you NEED (1st Timothy 6:10-12) 2:6 and perhaps Phil. Although these stages of growth are almost automatic in a healthy human, it is not so in the spirit realm. Using the theories of both Peck and Fowler, we can reflect upon our own spiritual development in light of the Ancient Wisdom as embodied by the Theosophical Society. 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