Grow With God: A Practical Guide for Personal Transformation

Tugi Waiyaki
Jul 18
4 min read

Growth is something we all desire, right? As a child, all you want to do is become a grown-up!

A father holding the hands of his child learning to walk — Growth takes guidance, just like a child learning to walk, we grow best when we let the Father walk with us hand in hand

In primary school, we learnt that all living things grow. What they did not tell us is that growth takes intentional effort and sacrifice! It costs to grow and change. The Bible is clear: work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Growth requires a concerted effort to happen. I think growing in your faith, skills, maturity, intelligence, and efforts is a noble and honorable thing. We are never supposed to remain the same, and it takes the Holy Spirit’s help to grow and mature. Without Him, all you do shall never fully satisfy.

I like to look at growth as collaborating with God to achieve His purposes in my life.

When the Scriptures say, in Psalm 127:1 Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain; unless the LORD protects the city, its watchmen stand guard in vain.

I see this as an invitation to build with God and grow with Him,.

In this article, I would like to share with you a few pointers when considering your growth towards maturity in your faith, your skills and even intelligence.

Step 1: Envision Your Destination

The first step in growth is envisioning the place you would like to grow to. It’s important to cultivate your desire and appetite for more. Without that, there wouldn’t be a need to grow. The Bible is constantly encouraging us to grow in our maturity to be more like Christ. That is the vision. He is our destination.

Step 2: Acknowledge and Accept Your Current State

Secondly, acknowledging where you are is so important! You have to be realistic with your current state. Do you want to read the Bible more and be more intentional about your prayer life? First, start with where you are. Do you even know where your Bible is? Or do you get distracted on your phone when reading your Bible?

Have an honest conversation with yourself about your current patterns, habits and inclinations before trying to grow, because otherwise, you might get in your way. Giving yourself grace about your shortcomings or immaturity requires a lot of maturity in itself! Most times, we turn to guilt or shame to motivate us to grow, but that is short-lived and corrosive.

James 5:16 gives us the antidote.

16 Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.

Confess and pray, but it also leads us to the next step:

Step 3: Ask the Holy Spirit for Help

Asking the Holy Spirit for help. Help to heal, help to grow and help with new strategies to do the right thing and grow. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to do the right thing. He helps grow our appetite for what is healthy, righteous and whole. Outside of Him, we can grow for a moment, but it won’t be long-lasting. It will also be by our strength, and to be very honest, our strength is not very strong.

Step 4: Practice Patience

Fourth, practice patience because growth takes time! It is not automatic. I often like to remind myself that the product is in the process. Nobody got to where they are in a day, so I must respect the process. Without patience, it is easy to give up. Our minds are very good at choosing the easier option. So, practicing the fruit of patience is imperative. In the process, you will encounter challenges, but that is why you must remember your destination, put your ‘why’ as the focus of your mind when you are going through the hard times.

Growth is hard and often forces us to go against what feels natural or comfortable. However without it, we cannot thrive. Let me share an example.

As a teenager, I really wanted to grow in my faith so as to live a life that pleased God. I was overwhelmed, and I did not know how to do this. There were so many opportunities around me to indulge in the wrong things. I knew that if I wasn’t intentional, I was going to slowly slip into the wrong habits. So, what did I do? I started reading the Bible regularly and memorizing some parts. It wasn’t easy at first; I didn’t even believe I could do it. But I started with a few verses, then 10 verses, before I knew it, I was memorizing whole chapters of a book. Then the chapters became a couple of books. What seemed impossible was achieved by taking small steps. This memorization of Scripture continues to benefit me, way past my teenage years.

Your growth cannot be achieved in one sitting. Breaking things down into manageable steps is so important. Asking God to help you figure out what strategies to employ is key. Being patient in the process is imperative. Sometimes, we don’t even feel like we are growing, but after some time, we will see the results. Don’t give up! Keep going.

In conclusion: