Lessons I'v Learned About Growth - Wes Hursh

Today I'm going to be talking about lessons I've learned about growth. And over the years, some of the observations I've made, I've found interesting.

I've found that when you bring up the topic of growth, it creates different feelings in different people. Some people, when you bring up the topic of growth, they get all excited and they about can't stop talking. Other people, you learn pretty quick that they're not interested in talking about it. And other people, they kind of enjoy talking about it. They like the idea, they see value in it. But when it comes right down to actually putting the work into growth, it just can look pretty overwhelming, maybe even discouraging.

And if I'm real honest, over the years, I've felt all those feelings. So there is hope to change. If you're feeling one way, you can feel better, but then vice versa also.

And this morning, I'm going to be sharing part of my journey in relation to growth and lessons I've learned about it. And what I share today will mainly be how we think about growth. And I'm hoping that at some point I can do part two and talk about things that have been helpful for me in my pursuit of growth and also potential pitfalls to look out for.

Over the years, I've had a lot of questions relating to growth. Like I mentioned that some things are some of the feelings we can have about growth aren't the healthiest. There's also questions about it that you may think, well, what was wrong with you? But it's things I wrestled with, and I'm going to share them. And I don't know if other people think the same things or ask the same questions. But some of the questions that I've had is, how important is growth? Won't growth just happen over time if I desired enough and ask God to help me?

Do I really need to put effort into it? How am I supposed to work at growing when I'm already stressed and overwhelmed? If growth is important, then how fast can I get it done so I can relax and enjoy life again?

And if it is important, then how do I grow?

To growing up, I'm a little bit natured to, maybe some people would say, lazy. But I kind of felt like physical and mental energy were limited resources. So why would I spend more time putting work into stuff when I really had to to get by if I could have a decent life and not put that much work into life? And great.

Well, that went okay. So I thought until my mid-20s, when I came to the realization that some of the problems I had weren't going to just up and disappear. And in fact, some of them were getting bigger. And then the question became, so now what do I do?

Since then, there's been a lot of ups and downs. There's been things I learned that have been helpful. There's been things that I've had to unlearn. And I've also discovered that there are pitfalls that we can fall into along the way. And I know I have lots more to learn on this topic. And I'm getting old enough that I'm pretty sure I will always have things to learn. So when you're younger, you think you'll come up with all the answers eventually, but I'm not so sure about that anymore.

So here are some of the things I've learned. One is if we're not growing, we're regressing.

And I used to think that there had to be this neutral plane where I could just float for life. Not excellent, but not that bad either. It's just pretty average. And I could just kind of float along, kick it in neutral, and enjoy life.

But what I realized, whether we like to admit it, we're becoming one of three things. We're either becoming more like the world, more stagnant, or more like Jesus.

And whether we're going to grow or regress spiritually is our choice. We have the privilege to decide what our life is going to become. And I really enjoyed our Sunday school lesson this morning because we talked about that some.

Covered some things that I won't actually be mentioning, but that fit well. So I really enjoyed that.

So regression can happen without us making conscious choices.

It's always a choice, but becoming more like the world or more stagnant or regressing spiritually, that can happen without us putting a lot of effort into it. And just an example of that is in talking to people. I know that some struggles or some of us have struggled a little bit when somebody cuts us off and then drives real slow in front of us or something like that. Well, when someone cuts you off, do you ever sit there and think, "Hmm, should I get mad at them or not?" And then decide, "Yeah, that's what I'm going to do." Now, it seems like it just happens. You don't have to stop and try to decide what you're going to do.

It just happens. And oftentimes, you can put anything in there, but it can easily feel like we end up getting somewhere. And then we ask the question, "How did we get here?" And the dangerous thing with that is that it can become really easy to go down the road of, "Oh, I just can't help it." And that way, I'm human. And I mean, doesn't the Bible say that when we are born again, all things are new? So I mean, this is just the all new, and you just got to live with it. It's just always be a struggle.

Well, even though regression can be happening without us even thinking about it, it's still a choice. It may be a result of choices we've made in the past that have kind of or influences we've had that kind of programmed us to think the way we do now or respond the way we do by default. Or it may be choices we're making now that we don't put any thought into. And some examples of that is, so you're sitting on the couch in the evening, and you're scrolling through your phone. And about two or three hours after your bedtime, you're like, "I really need to get to bed. This was stupid." The next morning, you wake up, and you have to decide, "Am I going to get up when my alarm goes, or am I going to lay here and try to sleep some more because it was late till I got to bed?"

My guess is you didn't think about it in the moment when you were sitting there scrolling that you were making a poor choice. It's just kind of, in some ways, kind of happened. Same thing with people that are diabetic or obese. I know there's exceptions to this, and not everybody makes the choice to be that way. But I don't know of anybody that decided, "You know what? I would really like to be a diabetic," or, "I'd really like to be obese." But because of choices they made, without really thinking about the choice they were making in the moment, they ended up where they are. It's picking up that fifth half of a cookie as you're sitting there at the table talking or binging on junk food or drinking that next can of soda, whatever.

Another example is people that become bitter. It's the same way. I don't know if people—I mean, I'm sure there's a few people here and there that kind of like being bitter. But in general, I don't know that people are like, "I would really like to become a bitter person." But because of choices they make, when somebody hurts them, when somebody offends them, they choose to hold a grudge and think negative thoughts and let them rehearse in their mind, they become a bitter person. And so even though it wasn't necessarily conscious choices they were making to become this way, it was a choice.

But on the other hand, growth will not happen without making conscious choices.

Growing in the likeness of Jesus does not happen subconsciously. We're not going to wake up one morning and also be way more spiritual. It'd be nice if it happened that way sometimes. Well, maybe we wouldn't appreciate it as much.

But if we're going to grow—excuse me—we're going to grow like Jesus, it's going to take conscious, deliberate choices every day. It's going to take work. And there's a reason that Jesus said in Luke 9:23, "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." It's a daily choice, not a once-and-done thing like a lot of people like to say.

For most of us, it may start when we wake up in the morning. And as simple of a thing as, "Am I going to get up and spend time with God, or am I going to lay in bed and sleep because I was scrolling last night?"

It doesn't have to start there. But every day is a choice. Are we going to take up his cross and follow him, or are we going to follow our flesh? Also, in Luke 14:27 and 28, he says, "And whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it?" Following Jesus is going to cost us. Jesus didn't say in this passage talking about what it means to be his disciple and what it requires. He didn't say, "Well, if you want a tower, just ask me and poof, I'll give you a tower."

It's going to take work. It's going to take resources. It's going to take time.

Growth is a choice that will cost you who you don't want to be.

And if we're going to grow, we will need to become aware of the kinds of choices we're making every day. Are we making choices that are helping us be more patient or more impatient? Are we making choices that help us be healthy or unhealthy?

Are we making choices that help us be more loving or more unloving?

It's our responsibility to decide if we're going to grow or if we're going to regress. And it is an important decision. In Hebrews 5 and 6, the writer of Hebrews is talking to the Christians there and kind of giving them a little bit of a rebuke about still being on milk when they should be teachers and eating meat.

And he's talking about them, why they should be moving on and the importance of it. In Hebrews 6, 7, and 8, he says, "For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated receives blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and briars, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned."

It's okay to start out with milk. It's actually a good thing. Don't try to start babies out on meat. Don't give them a steak when they're two months old. It doesn't work. So it's a good thing to start out on milk. But if we stay there indefinitely, we run the risk of, or we will become stagnant.

And when we're stagnant, we're probably going to be at a lot higher risk of starting to bear thorns and briars. And when that happens, it's a scary place to be. We run the risk of being rejected or cursed.

I don't think any of us want to be there. 2 Peter 1:3, Peter says, "His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue." God's given everything that pertains to life and godliness. And like we were talking about in Sunday school, it's our responsibility to put it on. God's not going to just wrap it in or wrap us in it. He's provided it.

We need to put it on. And Peter goes on to say, "Because for this reason, because God's given us everything, giving all diligence add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, and to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love." And I'm not going to talk about all those. Kevin has a message on our YouTube channel. Go look that up.

But then he goes on and says, "To add all this, because he who lacks these things is short-sighted even to blindness and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. But if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And if you do these things, you will never stumble, for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." And then this is so important to Peter. He goes on to say in the following verses, "For this reason, I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth. Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. Moreover, I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease."

And I think if Peter was so concerned that people remember the importance of these things, we do well to remember it also. And I know it's maybe sometimes we get tired of hearing it, but Peter was concerned that we remember it. And I think we do well to remember it and remind each other of the importance of growth and adding these virtues to our lives.

In conclusion, let's choose growth. I know growth is work. It can feel overwhelming at times. And we think it would feel good to just kick into neutral and enjoy life. I've been there. I understand those feelings. But my encouragement is, remember, that true life is the life that Jesus taught us to live. And living that life doesn't happen automatically.

We need to be aware of our daily choices because our daily choices form our daily practices, and our daily practices are either transforming or malforming us.