1. Find a good local church, join it, and get involved. A “good” church, will believe in the authority of God’s Word and teach it. The pastor will preach the gospel and tell you how to live as a Christian also. It will be a place of fellowship and community. It will be a church who welcomes everyone, regardless of their current situation. The church should be committed to encouraging one another to grow in Christ. Does the church offer Home Groups with Bible Study. Does the music fit your taste and style? Join and get involved. Do not be forever shopping and hopping from church to church looking for that perfect expression of the “ideal” church you have in your mind, otherwise you will never find it. No Church is completely perfect. Rarely is a mature Christian, active and useful to the Lord, that is not connected with and serving within a local church. Become a member and find something to do.
2. Make friends with other Christians and get to know them. If you are male, find another mature Christian man to befriend. Ladies…find a mature Christian woman and get to know her. Ask them to meet you for coffee or breakfast. Find out what their interests are and see if you can strike up some common ground for discussions and friendship. This doesn’t have to be a Bible study. Find someone further down the Christian road than yourself, and learn to tag along with them when you can. Some of the most wonderful and educational experiences of starting my Christian life were those spent with a more mature Christian at a table face to face. Especially with those that I could talk freely and openly with about all my addictions or problems that I needed to overcome.
3. Begin the life-long habit of daily devotions. You should make daily time for Bible reading and prayer. Pick a time that you can be consistent. Use a Bible reading plan to help you make steady progress through the Word. You can use any number of plans already made. Church and good preaching are important. A healthy growing Christian is one who is regularly reading his/her Bible and spending time in prayer. How long every day? That is for you to prayerfully consider. I personally can't read anything for more than 20 minutes before I need to dose off. If you want to read the whole Bible in a year, it will involve reading about 4 chapters a day. But quality time is more important than mere quantity. While reading, think about areas of your life that need to change to match what God is saying in Scripture. If you do this, you will grow. By the way, if you don’t have a cover for your Bible, pick one up. Make sure it has a pocket or room for a little notebook and a pen.
4. Keep a journal/notebook. This one I will admit that I am not the best at. Keep a little notebook in which you keep track of your Bible reading and notes. If you always read in the same place, just leave this notebook there with your Bible. Otherwise, make sure it is small enough to slip into your Bible cover. Inside, record the date and what you read. If you have time, write down any specific verses that spoke to you and what thoughts came to mind. Take this notebook with you to church and any other studies you attend and use it to write down notes in. In the BACK, write down any particular things you are praying about. I wouldn’t include anything too personal or private, as this book could be lost. With that in mind, put your name and contact information inside the front cover, just in case. It might not seem important now, but over the years I believe this habit will bear fruit and you will find yourself more productive in your reading, diligent in your prayers, and generally more knowledgeable in your Christian walk.
5. Memorize Scripture. Along with your notebook, purchase some 3x5 lined note cards. When you read a verse that is especially helpful, write it down on these cards and begin to commit the verse to memory. Go slow. Have some cards with you wherever you go. Having God’s Word memorized will strengthen your faith and equip you to share it like no other discipline I know. It will help you to give comfort to and counsel people in those times when your bible isn't at hand, or to share with unbelievers. It could also help you to triumph over sin and Satan on a daily basis.
6. Get involved in some mid-week Bible study or group. It is a long time between Sundays. Meeting together, when possible, with other Believers ‘mid-week’ will keep you accountable, help you to keep in touch with one another’s needs, and allow you additional opportunities to study and pray. From my own experience that long absence from any sort of weekday involvement with other Christians tends toward a drying and dulling of your spiritual life and can lead to sinful thoughts and actions. One of the first signs that a Christian is beginning to backslide is their absence from the prayer meeting. If your job or schooling makes this impossible (and it might), and you cannot make any changes in your schedule to allow it, then at least try to contact another Christian by phone or meet for breakfast at some point in the week. If your church does not offer such a meeting, speak to your pastor, offer your own home or apartment as a meeting place, and volunteer to get the word out to others. Have a mature Christian lead a little study with you and a few others if necessary.
7. Get involved in some good works. Give some of your personal time to helping a local charity. Volunteer some time with a food bank. Visit a homeless shelter. Write letters to someone who needs encouragement. One of the best ways to combat discouragement is to focus your attention on the needs of others. You are in a spiritual battle my friend. And one of the key strategies of our “enemy” is to get us absorbed in our own issues and struggles so that we are virtually useless to those around us. Plan to do something good for someone else every week, and throw in a small ounce of goodness to those around you daily.
8. Share your faith. Pray for and look for opportunities to tell others about Jesus Christ. Invite a friend to church. If your received one of my Million Dollar bills then you have received what is called a tract. There are many free versions on the web or you can make your own as did I. Don’t be afraid that you might not know the answer to a question. I am a fairly new Christian and I don't know all the answers, but I do have a fervor to share the love of Christ and Good News to others. You can always say “I don’t know.” Then ask someone who does. The very activity of telling others the gospel, about how you came to know the Lord, and inviting them to church will mature you and strengthen you in your walk. Don’t be discouraged with what appears to be limited results. Leave that with the Lord. Just keep spreading the seeds.
9. Read some good books. Just as befriending a mature Christian will prove useful, “befriending” some of the important Christian books of our past will go a long way in helping you mature as a Christian. I think it would be best to ask the advice of your own pastor or that mature Christian friend for some suggestions. Your church may have a library. If so, use it. Read something every day if you can. Keep 1 book in the car at all times, as you never know when you might be stuck somewhere & have some unexpected time on your hands. Write down what you are reading in that notebook suggested back in tip #4.
10. Remember the Lord’s Day. This is my favorite day of the week, and each Sunday can not come fast enough. This one may seem strange to some Christians. Remembering of the Lord’s Day is an important element to your spiritual maturity and growth. This is largely forgotten today. Most Christians spend one hour on Sunday for church, and the rest of the day is spent on recreation or personal entertainment. I believe this is one of the key reasons why there is so very little true Christian maturity in our generation. You may disagree, and I don’t want to argue it here. But I can tell you from my own experience that Christians who generally treat Sunday like any other day – except for the hour they give for worship – rarely seem grow as quickly as those who improve this day by setting it aside for the Lord. Use this day to rest and refresh your body and your soul. Use this day to serve others and better prepare yourself to be a blessing to those around you. Habitually attending a worship service is a very helpful way to protect this day from other encroachments. If you must work this day, pick some other day during the week and treat it equally as carefully and respectfully in honor of the Lord.
If you are reading this and are not a Christian, it is my sincere desire that you would embrace the provision God has made for sinners like you and I in the Person of Jesus Christ. The punishment that we deserve fell upon Him. This is the gospel: “By His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5) and “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21).” Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. And if you are a Christian, particularly a new believer, then my prayer is that you may “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18).” I hope you will consider these suggestions, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things.
