Here are our growing gals. Today they are 9 weeks old. Michele says they are wavering between inside and outside life because of the recent cold snap we are all experiencing.

The heater is still in happy use. It has remained the same size...

... though our chicks have decidedly NOT.

Remember when? 

And NOW look!

That's pretty remarkable growth for nine weeks. It's a fun treat to be able to go back and get a side by side comparison:

It's so easy to see their growth.

Don't you sometimes wish you could look at our own spiritual growth in the same way?

On one hand, it's a sobering thought. Yet there are times when I'd like to have some proof that I'm making some progress in this Christian life.

Am I growing...or not?

Do I look more like Jesus this spring than I did last spring? 

We don't have spiritual side-by-side pictures to review, but we can do an assessment of sorts. 

In the book How People Change, Tim Lane and Paul Tripp introduce 4 pictures that can help answer the question:

Am I growing in my maturity as a believer?

HEAT — The Situations We Face

 HEAT represents the difficult situations we face in our lives. We all face heat at some point. Heat isn't the problem, it's the setting where growth can be revealed (or not).

THORNS — Our Natural Responses

THORNS are "the foolish responses that come all too naturally to us when hard things (heat) happen.

Someone speaks unkindly and bitterness grows.

Negative things come our way and we allow ourselves to doubt God, and we let our participation in worship and ministry cool and slow.

We didn't get the raise we thought we deserved, so we work halfheartedly."

Our situations do not dictate that we respond in a thorn-filled fashion but our natural responses do come from the thoughts and motives of our hearts. 

THE CROSS — God’s Provision for Change

The CROSS reminds us that God is our "ever present help in trouble" (Psalm 46:1).

We are indwelt with the Holy Spirit who gives us everything we need to respond to life in godly ways.

If we are believers, we are in process.

We have the ability to make the progress we want to see.

We can be confident that our Lord is using every circumstance in our lives to grow us.

FRUIT — Evidence of Growth

FRUIT is a result of the progress we are making because of God's work in us.

It is the "after" picture we wish we could see side-by-side with our "before."

Our life now vs. our life before Christ.

Our response now when the heat is on vs. our response as a baby Christian when things went sideways.

Fruit is the opposite response from the thorn-filled one.

When blessed, we look for ways to bless others.

When discouraged, we run toward God and not away from him.

"We don't seek to avoid life, but move toward it with courage and faith....This is the life the presence of God and the grace of Christ make possible. "

So while we cannot see exact proof of spiritual growth with our eyes, we can assess it by:

• Examining our heart responses
• Inspecting our fruit production
• Observing the impact of our fruit on the lives of those around us.

Lord, reveal my heart and my behavior. Give me courage to take an honest look at the fruit my life is producing.

Show me where I have sown rotting, fetid fruit and help me to live life through your Son and not through my own foolish ways.

Show me too Father, where You are producing good fruit in my life. Help me to walk in your ways and to sow fruit that remains

so that next week, next month, next year,

I am able to look back at my life and see baskets of fruit produced for YOUR glory. 

Notes: How People Change by Tim Lane and Paul Tripp

Keywords: How do I know if I am growing as a Christian, signs of spiritual maturity in the Bible, how to respond to trials as a Christian, why do Christians struggle with sin, how to beear spiritual fruit, what does the Bible say about growth in faith, Christian response to suffering and hardship, biblical framework for change (heat, thorns, cross, fruit)