You Are Still Here, But Are You Growing?

Apr 19, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Stuck on Spiritual Baby Food

The writer of Hebrews confronts believers who’ve heard God’s truths for years but still need basics retaught. They’re stuck drinking spiritual “milk” like newborns instead of chewing “solid food” like mature disciples. Their complacency frustrates God, who expects growth over time. By now, they should be teaching others—but they’re still relearning ABCs. [31:11]

Growth isn’t automatic. Just sitting in church or knowing verses doesn’t mean you’ve changed. God cares more about who you’re becoming than how long you’ve been around. Stagnation happens when we avoid hard truths or settle for surface-level faith.

Where have you stayed the same spiritually? Do you still react to stress the same way? Doubt God’s faithfulness like before? Growth starts by admitting, “I should be further by now.” What area of your life feels stuck on repeat?

“In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!”
(Hebrews 5:12, NIV)

Prayer: Ask God to show you one stagnant area He wants to grow.
Challenge: Write down three ways you’ve stayed the same spiritually this past year.

Day 2: Chewing on Hard Truths

Milk goes down easy—it’s comforting, simple, and requires no effort. Solid food demands work: chewing, digesting, wrestling. The Hebrews preferred sermons that felt good over ones that challenged them. They avoided anything that exposed their flaws or demanded change. But real growth happens when we let God’s Word confront our habits, attitudes, and hidden sins. [56:02]

Jesus didn’t coddle His disciples. He corrected Peter’s pride, challenged the rich young ruler’s greed, and pushed Pharisees to examine their hearts. Truth that doesn’t stretch you won’t change you. Are you only consuming faith content that makes you feel good?

What “solid food” have you avoided? A hard command to forgive? A call to generosity? A conviction about your temper? Identify one challenging truth you’ve resisted. Will you let it reshape you today?

“Solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”
(Hebrews 5:14, NIV)

Prayer: Confess your resistance to a specific truth God’s shown you.
Challenge: Read Matthew 5:43-48 aloud and write one way to act on it.

Day 3: Growth Hurts Before It Helps

Muscles grow through resistance—weights, tension, strain. The writer of Hebrews says mature believers “train themselves” through repeated practice. Jesus let Peter fail publicly, walk on water, and endure rebukes to strengthen his faith. Discomfort isn’t punishment—it’s God’s gym for your soul. [01:00:34]

When life feels heavy—financial stress, relational tension, overwhelming responsibilities—God is stretching your capacity. Nelson Mandela endured 27 prison years yet chose peace over bitterness. Your trials can make you bitter or better, depending on whether you let them train you.

What current struggle is God using to grow you? Instead of praying for it to end, ask: “What strength is this building? What old mindset is this breaking?” How can you cooperate with God’s training today?

“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
(Hebrews 12:11, NIV)

Prayer: Thank God for one hard situation He’s using to grow you.
Challenge: Do 10 minutes of silent prayer instead of complaining about a problem.

Day 4: Repetition Over Miracles

Maturity comes through “constant use” of truth—not grand moments. The disciples didn’t learn courage in a day; they practiced following Jesus through storms, arrests, and hunger. Peter failed repeatedly before leading the early church. Growth isn’t a sprint—it’s daily choosing obedience when no one’s watching. [01:01:47]

What simple habit have you neglected? Reading Scripture? Praying for enemies? Controlling your tongue? God builds resilience through small, consistent steps, not occasional leaps. Skipping practice keeps you spiritually weak.

Where do you keep waiting for a breakthrough instead of doing the work? Pick one basic discipline (like gratitude or patience) and practice it intentionally today. What’s one step you’ll take right now?

“Train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”
(1 Timothy 4:7-8, NIV)

Prayer: Ask God for perseverance to practice one spiritual habit this week.
Challenge: Set a phone reminder to pause and pray at three specific times today.

Day 5: Proof in the Pressure

Mature faith shows when life squeezes you. The Hebrews’ real test wasn’t knowing doctrines—it was loving others during persecution, giving generously in lack, or staying pure in temptation. Mandela’s growth was proven when he led without revenge. Your reactions under pressure reveal if you’ve grown. [01:07:11]

What used to make you explode now makes you pause? What once caused panic now drives you to pray? Growth isn’t perfection—it’s progress. Celebrate when you respond with patience instead of rage, trust instead of fear.

What recent situation revealed your growth? Where do you still crumble? Ask God for grace to handle one recurring stress His way today.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.”
(James 1:2-3, NIV)

Prayer: Thank Jesus for one way He’s helped you respond better to trials.
Challenge: Call someone who’s seen your growth and encourage them in theirs.

Sermon Summary

God calls believers to move beyond familiarity and ritual into intentional spiritual development. Growth means becoming more than current habits, reshaping thought patterns, strengthening character, and expanding capacity to handle life under God’s rule. Mere attendance, titles, or fluent religious language does not equal maturity; longevity without transformation produces a faith that sounds pious but remains unchanged at its core. The biblical writer to the Hebrews confronts a community that has had time, teaching, and exposure yet still needs elementary instruction—an indictment that exposure without embodiment creates stagnation.

True growth begins with honest assessment: recognizing where present responses, habits, and emotions fall short of where they ought to be. Confession of spiritual underdevelopment opens the way for disciplined change. Growth requires consistent practice—repetition, resistance, and training—so that holiness becomes a formed reflex, not sporadic effort. The analogy of milk versus solid food underscores this: milk comforts and requires little effort; solid food demands teeth, chewing, digestion, and endurance. Mature faith digests difficult truth, refuses the safety of only palatable teaching, and allows deeper doctrine to reshape action.

Growth will disrupt comfort. Discomfort, conflict, and seasons of pressure function as the resistance that builds spiritual muscle. Avoiding the hard edge of truth breeds an appetite for easy religion and prevents formation. Conversely, endurance through tension produces restraint, steadiness, and a changed capacity to respond to pain and provocation without losing integrity.

Evidence of growth appears in what a person can now handle. Maturity displays itself not in louder worship or clever words but in restraint, steadier emotions, and fewer impulsive reactions. Where former triggers once provoked collapse, discernment and discipline now hold sway. Growth is measurable by what no longer controls a believer—anger, fear, gossip, or despair—and by the ability to remain faithful under pressure.

God expects development that matches divine purpose. Where God leads requires a different level of maturity than where one currently stands. Growth will not occur by accident; it requires a decision to pursue honest change, to accept discomfort, and to practice spiritual disciplines until new capacity becomes the norm.

Key Takeaways

1. Time does not equal growth Time alone produces familiarity, not change. Presence in religious spaces and accumulation of information can coexist with spiritual dullness; maturity requires intentional application of truth so that teaching becomes lived formation rather than repeated fact. Honest self-assessment exposes gaps between exposure and transformation and prompts the work required to close them. [33:59]
2. Admit where you should be Growth starts with admitting spiritual shortfalls and naming persistent patterns that betray immaturity. Confession creates the moral soil for discipline to take root; without that posture, teaching only becomes another fact to collect. Owning insufficiency moves a person from defensive survival to proactive formation. [49:17]
3. Growth will disrupt your comfort True development often arrives as resistance, critique, or seasons that unsettle routines. Those tensions strain existing patterns, forcing reorientation and the formation of new reflexes. Choosing ease traps faith in surface religiosity; embracing discomfort cultivates endurance and spiritual muscle. [55:35]
4. Maturity shows in what you handle Spiritual growth reveals itself in increased capacity—what no longer provokes rage, fear, or impulsive retreat. Consistent practice and discipline convert truth into temperament, so trials shape steadiness rather than bitterness. Measure progress by how much less control weaknesses exert over daily decisions and relationships. [61:29]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[29:49] - Series Introduction: Growth
[32:10] - You're Still Here, Are You Growing?
[32:29] - Defining Spiritual Growth
[33:59] - Time ≠ Growth
[49:17] - Point One: Admit Your Position
[55:35] - Point Two: Disruption and Discomfort
[61:29] - Point Three: Growth Shows Up
[68:23] - Decision: Will You Grow?
[69:51] - Invitation, Prayer, and Benediction

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Hebrews 5:12-14 (NIV)
12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Observation questions

What does the writer of Hebrews criticize about the spiritual state of the believers in this passage?
The sermon mentions that "time does not equal growth" and warns against "exposure without transformation" ([33:59]). What examples of stagnation does the sermon give (e.g., habits, reactions, or attitudes)?
How does the analogy of "milk vs. solid food" contrast spiritual immaturity with maturity in Hebrews 5?

Interpretation questions

Why does the writer of Hebrews link the inability to handle "solid food" to a lack of practice in distinguishing good from evil (v. 14)? How might this apply to believers today?
The sermon states, "Growth begins when you stop pretending you’re further than you are" ([55:35]). Why is self-deception a barrier to spiritual development?
The passage describes spiritual dullness as becoming "sluggish" (v. 11). What modern behaviors or attitudes might reflect this kind of spiritual sluggishness?

Application questions

The sermon challenges believers to ask, "What should you be by now that you’re still not?" ([52:55]). Identify one area of your life (e.g., patience, forgiveness, self-control) where you’ve stayed stagnant. What specific step could you take to grow in that area this week?
The analogy of "milk vs. solid food" implies that growth requires wrestling with challenging truths. Is there a biblical teaching or conviction you’ve avoided because it feels uncomfortable? How could you lean into it?
The sermon says, "Growth shows up in what you can handle now" ([01:01:29]). Reflect on a recent stressful situation: did your response reflect growth (e.g., restraint, trust) or old patterns (e.g., anger, fear)? What would maturity look like in that scenario next time?
The writer of Hebrews ties maturity to "constant use" of truth (v. 14). What daily spiritual habit (e.g., prayer, Scripture, accountability) could you prioritize to "train yourself" in godliness?
The sermon warns against "adjusting enough to survive" instead of growing through hardship ([45:16]). What current challenge could you view as an opportunity to develop spiritual endurance rather than just endure?

Sermon Clips

37s

#StopFallingApart

“Growth looks like your emotions don't run you. Your situation doesn't control you, and what used to shake you doesn't shake you the same way. Because when you're growing, life doesn't stop being hard, but you stop falling apart. Because if everything still disrupts you, you ain't growing. If every situation still dictates your mood, you ain't growing. If you're still easily thrown off a balance from everything, you ain't still growing.”

38s

#GodSeesBecoming

“You can build a routine that hides the fact that you have not grown. You can feel productive and still be spiritually stagnant. You can build a life that looks full and still avoid becoming better. And watch this. Nobody checks it because you've learned how to function at a level that does not require growing at all. But here's the truth. God is not impressed with how long you've been around. God is looking at who you are becoming.”

42s

#DecideToGrow

“You already know where you've been settling. You already know where you've been avoiding growth. You already know where you've been making excuses. And here's the reality. Growth is not gonna happen by accident. It's gonna happen by decision. And so I need you today to decide, am I gonna stay this version of myself, or am I gonna grow into who God is calling me to be? Because hear me. God is not adjusting God's plan to match your comfort. God is expecting you to grow to match God's purpose.”

35s

#PracticeWhatYouPreach

“Some of us don't need more words. See, that's the problem. Many of you out here trying to chase more word all the time when you ain't even applying the words you already have. You don't need another sermon on patience. You just need to practice it. You don't need any more messages on faith. You need to live it. You don't need another word about discipline. You need to do something with it. You've heard enough, seen enough, experienced enough. It's time to become something. Growth begins when you stop pretending.”

33s

#TrainByConstantUse

“Alright. Here's the third point. Growth shows up in what you can handle now. The writer says, solid food is for the mature who, by constant use, have trained themselves. Now don't miss that because the writer says, by constant use. That means growth didn't happen in a moment. It didn't happen because they heard something once. It happened because they practiced it over and over and over again. They trained themselves.”

26s

#EvidenceOfFruit

“So when he says you should be further along than this, he's not being harsh. He's being accurate. He's saying with everything you've heard, everything you've seen, everything you've been through, there should be evidence. There should be fruit. There should be development. There should be something to keep you stable by now. Now I'm not saying you gotta be perfect, but at least be progressing. I ain't saying you gotta be flawless, but be forming.”

42s

#RegressionIsDangerous

“God help me. Y'all missing it. Teaching it, modeling it, living it. But instead, he says, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles. The Greek there means the elementary building blocks a b c level faith. So what he's really saying is you've been in this long enough to be building others, but you're still rebuilding yourself at the most basic level. Listen. Regression is spiritual formation, not neutral is threatening because it means you've had exposure without transformation, truth without embodiment, and that creates a believer who can articulate faith but cannot demonstrate maturity.”

31s

#ShowUpButGrow

“You can be active and still stand still. You can be present and still make no progress. You can stay involved and still be unchanged. You can keep on showing up and still be stuck in the same place. You can learn more and still live the same as you did when you didn't know it. You can have more information, no transformation. You can participate in everything and still evolve in nothing. I'm trying to help you today.”

28s

#GrowthDisruptsComfort

“Growth starts when you get honest enough to say I should be further by now. Once you admit that, now you've got to deal with the next problem because growth is not just about honesty. It's about what you're willing to endure. Growth will disrupt what feels comfortable. That's the second point. Growth will disrupt what feels comfortable. The writer says you need milk, not solid food. Now you don't read that too fast because that's not just about content. That's about capacity.”

45s

#DefineGrowth

“And I realized prior to resurrection that I felt like God was calling me to preach what I feel is a series that is very needed, not just for us, but for the Christian church in general. It is something that we don't talk about much. So let me start here. What is growth? Growth is the process of becoming more than you currently are. It goes beyond outward change. It is development within. It is the steady shaping of your mind, your character, your discipline, and your capacity.”

42s

#GrowthNeedsIntention

“Growth means that you think differently, respond differently, and handle life differently than you once did. It means something in you is evolving. Something in you is stretching. Something in you is strengthening. Something in you is maturing. And the truth is, god growth, I'm sorry, requires intention, consistency, and a willingness to be uncomfortable. Because anything that truly grows has to be stretched beyond where it is.”

45s

#SteadyNotEasy

“But when growth starts happening, you become steady, grounded, hard to shake, not because life got easier, but because you got stronger. And hear me, y'all. I'm I'm wrapping this thing up. God is trying to develop a version of you that can handle what's next. Because where God is taking you, it requires maturity, more discipline, more stability than where you are right now. I need you to suck that in, take that. God is trying to take you somewhere.”

30s

#SpiritualWeightlifting

“God help me. It's like going to the gym and just lifting the 15 pound weights knowing you should have been at 50. But you only do the 15 because you know you can do it. See, some of us have built a spiritual life that only works when it feels good. As long as it is encouraging, you engage. As long as it's lifting, you present. But the moment it challenges you, you pull back.”

33s

#DullOfHearing

“And here's the line. Since you have become dull of hearing now that word dull in the Greek, nauthors, doesn't mean they lack intelligence. It just means that they become sluggish, slow, unresponsive, not able to grow, but unwilling to engage at the level required to grow. So the issue is not their capacity. It's their posture, highly of sitting. They lost their sharpness, lost their attentiveness, lost their hunger for depth, and now the writer has to pause deep teaching, hear me, because they can't handle it.”

37s

#CalledToTeach

“God help me. That's frustrating. Because he's saying, wanna take you deeper, but you won't come with me. I wanna stretch you, but you keep resisting. I wanna build you up, but you're comfortable where you are. So when he says this, by this time, you ought to be teachers, that's not just about time passing. That's about expectation violated because in the early church, growth was assumed. Exposure to the word was supposed to produce development in believer, and the believer to the point where you didn't just receive truth, you became responsible for carrying it.”

33s

#HandleDailyHardness

“It's been a week, and it requires some growth to deal with it all. Because I'm not even talking about the quiet and heavy stuff that you're dealing with. I'm not talking about the fact that you you're not thinking about vacations this year because you're thinking about just surviving. I'm not thinking about whether or not you pull up to the gas tank and decide whether or not you're gonna put a half tank in or full tank in because you gotta ration out the rest of that money. I'm not talking about do you pay the bill this week, or do you push it and hope that nothing shuts off?”

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You Are Still Here, But Are You Growing?

Devotional

Day 1: Stuck on Spiritual Baby Food

Day 2: Chewing on Hard Truths

Day 3: Growth Hurts Before It Helps

Day 4: Repetition Over Miracles

Day 5: Proof in the Pressure

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

You Are Still Here, But Are You Growing?

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