Growth: 5 reasons why you're not growing as a Christian Woman

 

If I had to give this season of my life a title I would call it "growth". As my 30th birthday is drawing closer and closer, I just can't help but reminisce on how far I have come as a person in the past few months. At the beginning of the year I made a very deliberate decision to stop complaining about the things in my life I didn't like and start putting the work in to change those exact things. Doing that has forced me to take accountability for the things that I actually can change in my life and the strength to accept the things that I am not able to control. The past few months have shown me how important it is to grow as a Christian woman. Growth is inevitable in our journey with Christ. It forces you to grow out of your comfort zone in order for God to take you from glory to glory. 
Imagine seeing a baby on the day it's born and then 5 years later just to see that nothing has changed. The baby is still the same size. In diapers, not a hair grew, no teeth, and helpless. It wouldn't take a genius to tell that something isn't right here. But why don't we see it the same way in our Christian life? How can we claim to walk with God for years and years and yet there is no sign of growth?
Growth affects every area of your life. We must grow in our mindset. Grow in prayer. Grow in character and grow territorial. As much as it might be everyone's desire to grow in the things of God, many of us find it difficult. There are certain hindrances that we encounter as we want to grow. Instead of overlooking these hindrances in our characters that stop us from becoming who God wants us to be as women, it's time we face and overcome them. Here are 5 reasons why you're not growing as a Christian woman in your growth season.

1.) Constantly looking to your past

One of my biggest problems, when I first got married was that I was not ready to fully let go of my past.I was holding on to friendships that didn't serve me anymore, habits that didn't work for me anymore and a lifestyle that has passed it's expiration date. How do we expect God to catapult us into higher heights when we're stuck in our past? The perfect example, besides myself, of a woman stuck in the past is Lot's wife. The Bible says that as God wanted to take her and her family into a better place, she couldn't look to her new beginning in faith and hope but instead she looked back and it caused her to become a pillar of salt. There is a reason why the Bible tells us that the Proverbs 31 woman laughs without fear of the future. The only way we can laugh without fear of the future is when we make peace with our past. The only way in which our past can serve us is as a reference point of how far God has brought us. If you want to grow in Christ this season of your life, let go of your past, Forgive yourself for past mistakes and forgive the people that have hurt you.

 Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, 

and whoever loses their life will preserve it. 

Luke 17:32-33

2.) Complaining excessively

Nothing good comes to people who complain. Growing has a lot to do with accepting the things we cannot change instead of constantly complaining about them. Stop wishing your life was different and start creating a different life for yourself through God's blueprint. The journey of the Israelites took a lot longer than it was supposed to because their complaints hindered God's hand to work for them. This is what mummering does, it hinders you from seeing what is other side of your egypt. It literally block your view from seeing the promised land and closes the heaven over you. People who complain, don't grow. They remain in the same spot for a long time. If you want to grow, replace grumbling with gratitude and see how much you will grow as a woman in Christ.

And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord: and the Lord heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.

Numbers 11:1

3.) Lack of accountability

God is tired of the immature blame game many Christians are playing. So many believers have become champions in blaming the devil for everything they are going through instead of taking accountability for their own lives and actions. You will never grow in Him when you keep blaming everyone and everything for why things are the way they are in your life. Taking accountability means being honest with God and with yourself. Blaming work on your weak prayer life, the pastor for why you don't read your bible  and other believers for why you don't want to go to church isn't going to work when you desire to grow. Adam and Eve were not able to take accountability for their mistakes. Instead they blamed each other and the serpent for their short comings. From now on, we must commit to something and be accountable to stick to it. If you need an accountability partner who reminds you of the commitments that you've made, find a friend who can be that kind of person in your life.

 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, 

she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” 

Genesis 3:12

4.) Lack of discretion

When you're growing, the best thing to do is remain silent. When a seed is planted and grows, it grows in silence, but when a tree falls down the earth is shaking. The best example I have is a woman that is pregnant and how she will not share the news publicly up until a certain time. Mary carried the Messiah and she didn't make a public announcement out of it. She kept the things that the angel told her in her heart. She knew that what she carried was bigger than her and it took discretion. Some of the things that God has been withholding from you, are as a result of you talking too much. God wants to grow something on the inside of you and just as with Mary have you carry a vision bigger than yourself but when you lack the ability to be discreet as a woman, God will not place His secret in you. You can't grow when you talk too much and when you talk too soon.

"As a jewel of gold in a swine's snout, 

so is a fair woman which is without discretion 

Proverbs 11:22

5.) Lack of consistency

If we are not consistent in prayer, consistent in the word and consistent in seeking God, we won't be able to grow. It's like a person going to the gym. If they don't grow regularly, there will never be any tangible results. Any spiritual act we practice, being it praying, studying the word or preaching the word, it must be done consistently. If we want to grow in the secret place, we must see it like a muscle that has to be trained. It takes several repetitions for it to have an effect. Spiritual growth starts with consistency but the problem is that there are many distractions the enemy wants to throw at us to get us of course. Be determined to remain consistent in prayer and studying the word no matter what. That's the only way you can grow. Because the truth is that in your season of growth, there will be many times and opportunities where it will be easier to quit and throw in the towel. There will be many times you won't feel like praying or reading your Bible. Times where you won't want to do the right and godly thing in that moment, but the more consistent you are, the easier it will get and the more you will grow.

For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.

1. Timothy 4:8