When Growth Gets Questioned
Choosing God’s strength when others misunderstand your change
Beloved Friend,
There’s a trick the adversary uses that doesn’t always come through guilt from your past. Sometimes, it’s through the voices of people who can’t accept your growth. You’ve decided to be more intentional with God. You’re shedding weight, dropping habits, choosing new consecrations. Then suddenly, the attacks come. “I thought you said you don’t gossip anymore.” “So you still get angry?” “I thought you quit alcohol, why you dey form for us since?” The same people who once cheered you on might now question your sincerity.
This is not a call to shrink back or prove yourself to anyone. It is a call to press deeper into God. Transformation is rarely instant, even when salvation is. Some people shed old habits like snake skin, others learn to put them off slowly. It doesn’t mean you’re faking, and it surely doesn’t mean this life isn’t for you.
When I started knitting, I couldn’t talk and knit at the same time. One always had to give way for the other. With time and practice, I realized my hands could knit almost unconsciously while I held a full conversation. Growth in God works like that too. At first, it feels like struggle. With consistency and reliance on His Spirit, you find that grace becomes so sufficient you can’t even imagine going back.
Remember how Paul said in Philippians 3:12 that he hadn’t already attained perfection, but he pressed on? That is our call too. To keep pressing. Even if you fall today, don’t let shame have the final word. The righteous may fall seven times, but they rise again. Rising again is proof that grace is alive in you.
So when your growth is questioned, don’t spend energy defending yourself. Let your consistency speak. In time, the fruit of your walk will silence the doubt of others. Keep your eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith, and trust that the same God who began a good work in you will surely bring it to completion.
With thoughts of kindness,
ABBA’s Shofar