The life of every person living in the developed world is divided into certain stages: birth, nursery, kindergarten, school, vocational school or technical college or university, military service, work, starting a family, raising children, career growth, advanced training or searching for a promising job, retirement, old age, and death. Something may be absent from one person’s life, or something special may be present. And all of this is called a person’s life. All these stages of life are tied to a certain age and pass from one into another. The first stage implies the inevitability of the last, and every sensible person living within this framework tries to fill his time well with something meaningful and interesting.
The life of a believer is also divided into stages that do not end with death but, passing from one into another, form spiritual maturity and receptiveness, raising the growing person to a higher level. Unlike the earthly stages, where the transition from one stage to another is inevitable, in spiritual growth a person can stop growing and remain at one level for life, or choose the wrong direction and, as a result, fall into heresy and deteriorate.
If in earthly life we consider a person’s normal development to be his gradual transition from one stage to another, then for some reason this principle is distorted or neglected in spiritual life. And the person who has managed to grow becomes incomprehensible to many and spends his life in spiritual loneliness, dreaming that someone else will reach his level and be able to fellowship with him in spiritual unity and understanding.
What I am now trying to describe is not my invention or discovery, but God’s plan for the short probationary period of a person’s spiritual life. And God loves His children with everlasting love, regardless of the stage of spiritual development at which they are or have stopped. They are His children, born to live forever, who have faith in God and are learning the rules of heavenly life here on earth. You should not be upset if you see that your spiritual growth has stopped; perhaps this is a springboard for moving to a new level. But everything depends on you. The more a person has grown in Jesus, the more fiercely the enemy of the human soul attacks him and the stronger the assaults of the world become, and not everyone is able or willing to endure this. The war does not cease for a single minute; all the forces of darkness concentrate on those who are growing spiritually. But God protects His children, and nothing can harm them. They are safe as long as they believe in God’s power and in His promises to care for them and keep them from evil, and entrust all their cares and their very lives to the Most High.
Spiritual life includes the following stages: hearing, awareness, the new birth, knowing and accepting the truth, first love, searching for spiritual authorities, accepting the fundamentals of doctrine, missionary activity, serving one’s neighbors, the dark night of the soul, reassessing values, spiritual friendship, searching for one’s place in order to use one’s abilities effectively, reassessing spiritual values, leaving behind what is unnecessary, the second dark night of the soul, and agape love. In essence, these are six stages of faith that anyone can master. I may have omitted something or formulated these stages incorrectly, and I ask for your mercy. In spiritual growth, it is impossible to leap from the initial stage to the later ones while bypassing the intermediate stages, just as it is impossible in the earthly cycle of growth. This is not because I decided it should be so, but because God’s plan and the harmony of development are found in it. Another distinctive feature is that some people grow slowly or stop growing, while others pass through these stages very quickly and move upward with confidence. Those in the middle understand the condition of those at the beginning of the journey, but they do not always understand, or do not understand at all, the motives of those who have outgrown them.
Growth usually stops during the dark night of the soul. The soul does not want severe trials; it is frightened by darkness and the unknown, resists the fire through which it must pass, and stops developing, expanding the horizons of the place where it stopped. The entire church reaches this level, but any movement beyond it takes place only on an individual basis.
The ultimate goal of development is agape love. When a believer reaches it, he does not stop growing, but discovers limitless opportunities for God’s plans to be carried out through him. This is precisely the goal that Christ sets for each of His people, so that everyone will know what he should strive for without stopping at what he has achieved. And Jesus offers Himself as help, while respecting a person’s desires and taking his choice into account. Amazing love.
Spiritual growth is impossible without Christ. Without a personal relationship with Jesus, all truth will be accepted only by the mind, without touching the heart. But this is the same as building a house on sand, without a foundation. It looks beautiful and sturdy as well, but only until the first trial or catastrophe, and then it collapses.
Agape love is also unique in that it is available at every stage of faith, but it is given as temporary help in order to show a person a better prospect for growth. Yet it does not take complete possession of the heart, because the person himself is not yet ready for this. He cannot make this gift the driving motive of his life, simply because he does not understand the obligations and responsibility. But in the process of growth, while striving toward this goal, he reaches it, becomes ready to accept it in all its fullness, and becomes part of this love. This can be compared to a child in a family. He sees the advantages of family life, lives in the love of his parents, benefits from their love and protection, and depends on their care, but he is not yet ready to start his own family because he has not yet grown up. Yet while still a child, he already begins to dream about the wonderful family he will have. I think each of you had similar thoughts in childhood and has observed them in your own children. But the time comes when a person matures enough to start a family and enters into marriage at the proper time.
In the same way, in our spiritual development we strive to attain the full stature of Christ. And at a certain stage of this growth, God Himself places a certain responsibility upon us, gives us particular gifts and talents for service in the church, and endows us with special power and influence at His discretion.
When I am ready to receive something greater because the time has come, but I do not ask God for it and hide my hands behind my back, I risk stopping in my spiritual development for many years and treading water in one place, becoming an outside observer or a critic of various events.
The choice is mine, and God will give me exactly what I choose. I choose love and move toward receiving greater love, which is the more excellent way.
Homework 207
Please read Mark 4:26–32; 2 Peter 1:3–11; Hebrews 5:12–14; Ephesians 3:16–21; 6:10–18; Philippians 3:13–18; 4:6–7; Hebrews 13:20–21; Romans 5:1–5; 1 Peter 1:22; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Revelation 22:17; and Ephesians 4:13–16 in the light of our lesson. Did you learn anything useful for yourself from this lesson? Do you understand what we are studying in our school of love? Do you understand the expression “the dark night of the soul”? Do you see spiritual growth in your life? Do you have spiritual goals that you dream of achieving? What role does love play in spiritual growth? Do you believe that it is realistic for an ordinary person to attain the knowledge of agape love and live in this condition? How can I determine the spiritual level at which I am? What does God do in my spiritual growth?