LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
SPIRITUAL GROWTH PLAN 1
Submitted to Professor Dr. Benjamin Forrest
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
DSMN 520-B01
Spiritual Formation
by
Devin Simmons
September 30, 2018
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Content
Spiritual Growth Plan
Part 1: Spiritual Discipline Practice
Part 2: Battling Temptations
Part 3: Guarding Against Blind Spots
Conclusion
Bibliography
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Spiritual Growth Plan
As a disciple of Christ, we go through a sanctification process in our daily lives by which
we are being conformed to the image of Christ.1 However, this process of sanctification is
misunderstood, as being an escape for the new born Christian. So many believers that have been
Christians for a long time lack the depth of spiritual maturity they should have or could have
because of not truly going through the discipleship process their selves. They have not been
trained to be disciples of Christ and have, thusly, fed on spiritual milk for the whole being of
their Christian walk. The book of Hebrews speaks of the people who live on milk alone, when in
fact they should be eating solid food for the mature and productive.2 Therefore, the process of
becoming a disciple, and consequently the process of a believer is to grow spiritually mature in
Christ. This paper will discuss how I will incorporate two spiritual disciplines in my life, address
how to combat temptations discussed in Module Two’s assignment, and guard against blind
spots.
Part 1: Spiritual Discipline Practice
I always want to get closer to God, but I feel that I fall short of the sin. I know that I
struggle, and I know there are a lot of things that is not pleasing to God. I know that God is not
pleased with the things that I do. My Spiritual Discipline has to get better, so I can always please
1 Joerg Rieger, “Sanctification.” In Cambridge Dictionary of Christian Theology. (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2011), http://www.liberty.edu:2048/login?
url=http://literati.credoreference.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/content/entry/cupdct/sanctification/0,
accessed July 16, 2016.
2 Jim Putnam and Bobby Harrington, Jim Putnam and Bobby Harrington, Discipleshift: Five Steps That
Help Your Church Make Disciples Who Make Disciples (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2013), 63.
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God. First, I need to work on my Spiritual Discipline in the area of silence and solitude. Whitney
states, “sometimes worship consists of a God-focused stillness and hush”.3 With so much going
on with life, work, families, it’s hard to find that quiet time and when it too quiet I catch myself
falling sleep. I notice that I plan time for quiet time like in the car to work or home but only to
rush through it or not do it at all because of distractions. However, when I do get that time in His
Word I feel whole and feel with joy and all the pressure of the world fall off. The Book of Psalms
62:1-2 remind us of God’s love for me and you, and how our soul longing Him. “For God alone
my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.”
My spiritual growth plan will help me focus on the silence and solitude in my daily
routine. This plan is going to help me to sculpt out a dedicated time when I need to go to the
Father in prayer and reflection. I will make this time a non-negotiable time for myself at six am
in the morning and ten pm at night. I believed that these are critical times because on it will
allow the Father to speak to me to help guide my day and night to reflect on my daily walk with
him. During this time of silence and solitude I will make sure I isolate myself from everyone in
the house and turn off all electronics and read that day’s passage, quietly listening and reflecting
on His Word. Everything else will become second priority until completion. As Whitney states,
“what we are when we are alone is what we really are” and if we seek Him, “then we may be
hopeful we do know God”.4
In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 states, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching,
rebuking, correcting, and training righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly
3 Donald S. Whitney. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. 2nd ed. Colorado Springs: Navpress, 2014.
4 Ibid., 235
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equipped for every good work” so my second spiritual discipline is to full be able to understand
God word of sanctification, so I can continue to do good works. This fall in line with the first
discipline because to be able to understand God’s Word I have to spending quiet time in His
word to understand what He is saying. Similar to preparing for test in school or a presentation at
work, quiet time is needed to understand the subject. I only can be affective if I learn what He
wants to me know and do.
A wise man told me on time is the only way to break an old habit is to create a new habit.
I have to create a new habit to practice spending time with God and been in his word daily. This
will be part of my silence and solitude with Him. Like a teacher-student relationship, the teacher
is only affective if the student is willing to learned and comes more engaged. I cannot allow
worldly noise to continue to distract from my learning and I must stay focus done daily on God
purpose.
Battling Temptations
As stated in Module Two’s assignment as a Christian we need spiritual discipline as we
face many temptations on a daily basic. “No temptation has overtaken you except what is
common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can
bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that can endure it” (1 Cor.
10:13). For many years, I have been struggling with the same sins and temptations. The truth is
many things that I struggle with the lust of sex and pride for years. The lust of sex was created in
me for pornography at a young age wanted to be those guys begin with those beautiful women. I
struggle with sex because I have brain wash myself that sex a form of love instead of lust. I want
the physical touch of a woman because I want to feel that I been love back. I also have a each of
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pride. The common causes leading me to these temptations was how others perceive me
professionally and personally and comparing myself to others. Carson states, “The God whom he
(Paul) petitions is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or image.”5 This mean that I
wasted time wanting material possessions, which God knows is not the best for me. I can better
serve Him by removing my wants and asking Him what He needs from me. My battle strategy is
face admit that I have an issue and that I need God help to overcome it. The more time I spend in
His Word, the better equipped I am to stop the temptations from manifesting. When I am face
sexual thoughts or moments of lust, I will pray more and get in the word of God. I am reminded
about the power of prayer in various Bible verses but if I “seek the Lord and his strength” I will
“seek His presence continually” (1 Chronicles 16:11). There is nothing more comforting
knowing God is there, if I seek Him.
Part 3: Guarding Again Blind Spots
The biggest blind spots I have encountered are to lust and greed. Many people have fallen
to being unfaithful in their marriages and or not handling the finances above board. To guard
against lust, I have taken the same precautions that I heard father took. Any time he meets with
the opposite sex he always has another person in the room with him he never was alone. In my
line of work, I do a lot of recruiting and a lot of training because I am in the financial business.
So anytime if I have to train the opposite sex I always have another person with we us. I agree
with James MacDonald because sexual temptations can arise. I am a marry man and I never want
to put my marriage at jeopardy. I will only train the opposite sex by myself if my top female
trainer is not free for that day for training. After that, she must agree to meet me along with
another lady. I also always call I never text the opposite sex specially if they are married.
5 D. A. Carson. Praying with Paul: A Call to Spiritual Reformation. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2014.
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In guarding against financial impropriety, I distance myself from hiding any money from
my wife and her having access to. We have established a finance budget and have a open
discussion on all transactions. We are required to let each other know about any big purchase that
we want to make. In the begin of our marriage because I was he man of the house I could do
what every I want with the money. But I did not realize I was creating debit for us. So now we
report or bring up any and all questions that they have. So now my wife and I have only one
account and are accountable to one another on managing our money as good stewards.
Conclusion
Having a spiritual growth plan is an important piece of being a Christian. Christians must
be able to identify how to grow in the Lord, implement a battle plan to resist temptation, and
guard against future blind spots. The Devil is skillful, and he knows to target our weak point and
keep dinging our sin in our face like a cat trying to hit a toy ball. The only way that I can get
strong and not fall for the same sin is I need to continue to spend time in the Word. Also, be
aware of His desires for me, and know if I seek Him, He will be there. His plans are greater than
anything I can imagine but this will only be accomplished if I put into practice my spiritual
growth plan.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Carson, D. A. Praying with Paul: A Call to Spiritual Reformation. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker,
2014.
MacDonald, James, Five Moral Fences
http://www.harvestbiblechapel.org/Content/10780/183842.pdf
Putman, Jim, Bobby Harrington, and Robert E. Coleman. Discipleshift: Five Steps that Help
Your Church to Make Disciples Who Make Disciples. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013.
Rieger, Joerg. “Sanctification.” In Cambridge Dictionary of Christian Theology. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2011, http://www.liberty.edu:2048/login?
url=http://literati.credoreference.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/content/entry/cupdct/sanct
ification/0. Accessed July 16, 2017.
Whitney, Donald S. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. Colorado Springs, CO:
NavPress, 1991.
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