What encourages spiritual growth?
Vrs 1a come back to that
Vrs 1b-4
1. Suffering
Suffering to grow a theology of suffering,
The contrast here is this…as far as spiritual growth is concerned; you will grow more when you are suffering. The day of death is not you actually dieing it is a loved one.
Celebrating does not inspire growth as much as pain and suffering, in pain and suffering we start to look for answers.
Jesus suffered and His suffering should get our attention. It should wake us up to how serious our sin is and the high price that was paid to redeem us. GOSPEL His suffering accomplished much.
So when you suffer, keep your eyes on the one who suffered.
Verse 5-6
2. Correction-anytime someone comes along side you and corrects or wants to help you get on the right path. Correction brings growth
If you have people in your life that love you enough to correct you, love them because they love you.
How do you take the correction…be humble and look to change.
Listening to the encouragement of fools. Young guys in particular listen to this. Wisdom is personified as a woman in Proverbs. Studies show that if there is a group of men and no women in the mix, the men are more likely to commit a crime
Verses 7
3. Temptation
Learning to do good amidst the evil around you. It is very tempting to sin when we are oppressed or when you are deceived or bribed
-Oppression- treated unfairly, how do you respond? JESUS
-Bride- this may look good, but that does not mean it is good? JUDAS
Temptation helps you grow because if you stand up under it, you feel the hand of God helping you and it encourages for the next temptation. But if you fall, you learn from consequences.
Verse 8
4. Waiting
Why so long oh Lord will this trouble not leave? Patience
ER illustration: There are certain things we do when we wait.
-Look for consolation (talk to every seemingly knowledgeable person)
-Complain- I am looking for some to commiserate with me
-Worry
But Jesus wants you to trust
If you don’t fair well in these areas, suffering, correction, temptation and waiting you will fall into the trap of things Solomon says will stunt your spiritual growth.
What stunts spiritual growth?
Verse 9
1. Anger with God
Why have you appointed me for this suffering? I am mad at you Lord.
It is not wrong to question but it is wrong to cast blame
JONAH-he was mad at God’s character
Verses 10
2. Dwelling in the past
Don’t dwell in the past, life was better before this happened.
Church illustration: Some hold onto certain ways of doing things and if it does not stay that way it stunts their growth.
Here are non-negotiables…
-Our statements of faith, Jesus, trinity, scripture
-The Word will be preached
-The Good News preached
-The songs will be about Jesus
-We celebrate communion
-We baptize believers
Deal with the present so you can learn from it.
Verses 11-12
3. Worldly wisdom
Wisdom comes from the Lord and knowing the counsel of God, realizing He is in control, He has a plan, His plan is good but you need to be molded into that plan.
You will stunt your spiritual growth by looking to the world for the answers to the questions of life.
Verses 13
4. Thinking you are in control
Realizing you don’t have ultimate power to fix everything. This is important especially for the men, we by nature want to fix, In order to grow we need to give those things to the Lord
Verses 14
5. Not accepting what God allows in your life.
When you are in a good season in life…enjoy it. But what makes a good season, that much better is enduring a bad season before it. This past winter was a great example.
But the response should be “Oh Lord you are in control”
Verse 1 what makes a name good? Dealing well with the areas that encourage spiritual growth. So if you are growing you will help heal others like precious ointment.
If this happens “The Growing Name” will be that of Jesus, precious ointment that heals and sooths the damaged souls.
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