{"id":11554,"date":"2015-12-10T01:00:16","date_gmt":"2015-12-10T09:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/?p=11554"},"modified":"2016-05-01T21:43:14","modified_gmt":"2016-05-02T04:43:14","slug":"growing-pains-introduction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/2015\/12\/10\/growing-pains-introduction\/","title":{"rendered":"Growing Pains: Introduction"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Kristen Lim<\/em><\/p>\n

Growing up can be painful. That\u2019s why there\u2019s even a T.V. show called \u201cGrowing Pains.\u201d Certainly we all have various circumstances in our upbringing, but surely no one would say that their adolescence was a breeze with absolutely no difficulties.<\/p>\n

In a similar way, being a young or new Christian can be a confusing time as you begin this journey of living for God\u2019s glory, and you find that it\u2019s not an easy task. There are both external and internal pressures that war against the pursuit of holiness. It is a constant battle to set our minds on the things above and not allow culture or worldliness to dictate life choices. You may mentally agree on the Christianity 101 basics, but there are still lingering questions with the mechanics of how God impacts the mundane day-to-day living. There is an itch to grow in maturity quickly, yet the same recurring sin keeps on appearing, bringing discouragement and possibly doubts of salvation. And when you do overcome a certain struggle, there is a temptation to take pride in that accomplishment rather than to give praise to God. Add in other sinners to the mix, and now there is the issue of peacemaking and loving others when they unintentionally offend you, or even intentionally sin against you. And oh, what to do with spiritual disciplines if I don\u2019t \u201cfeel\u201d like doing them? Do I need to have perfect and pure motives before serving God?<\/p>\n

Thus begins a series on common spiritual topics (aka \u201cgrowing pains\u201d) that young Christians grapple with in the process of sanctification and development of a Biblical worldview and God-centered outlook on life. This series will be a grab bag of thoughts, experiences, temptations, and pitfalls young and new Christians may go through. My goal is to show you that God\u2019s word really is sufficient for training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16) and has answers to the various emotions and circumstances that may make you feel stuck and confused.<\/p>\n

If you consider yourself a young Christian and relate with some of the questions listed above, may you find encouragement that God did not leave us to ourselves to blindly navigate the rapid waters of life; we have His complete and inerrant words. Psalm 119:9 reads, \u201cHow can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word.\u201d If you are hungering to be more in God\u2019s word, you\u2019re on the right track.<\/p>\n

If you consider yourself a more mature, seasoned Christian, then hopefully reading this series will remind you of struggles you once had and may God give you a heart to reach out to the baby Christians and take them under your wing (Titus 2). Reading a blog post certainly can\u2019t and shouldn\u2019t replace human-to-human discipleship.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I have to mention that I myself am a young person who doesn\u2019t have many years of life experiences, and I certainly am not the spiritual maturity guru. But since I am relatively young, I still recall the vivid memories of working through the various topics in this series, searching Scripture for guidance, and asking those more mature than me for their counsel. Rather than reading this series with the mentality that it holds all the answers, think of it as an ignition to whet your appetites to study these topics in further detail and spark more intentional conversations within your church family.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m excited to begin this series of various spiritual issues young Christians may ponder. Stay tuned next month for the discussion of the first growing pain!<\/p>\n

Further reading related to spiritual growth and maturity:<\/p>\n