8 Common Pitfalls That Can Hinder Your Spiritual Growth

1. Not developing a personal prayer life.

One of the most common pitfalls to spiritual growth is overlooking the need for your own prayer life. As believers, we are blessed to know that God desires to spend time with us in prayer. There are so many promises and benefits that come from spending time in prayer. 

• Joy in his presence (Psalm 16.11)
• Help in time of need (Isaiah 41:10)
• Peace that passes understanding (Philemon 4:6-7)
• The ability to cast off your anxieties (1 Peter 5:7)

If you are neglecting prayer, you are cutting off one of the fundamentals of your relationship with God. Imagine being in a relationship with someone, living in the same house, and you never speak to each other. Not only is that awkward, but that is evidence of a very unhealthy relationship. When you choose not to pray, that is exactly the type of relationship you are creating with God. Always remember, God is always ready and willing to meet with you in prayer. The question for you is, are you ready and willing to do the same?

Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/Motortion 

2. Neglecting your Bible.

There was a study by Pew Research that looked into how often Christians read their Bible. Here were the results. I warn you now they are not too encouraging.

• 45% read their Bible at least once per week.
• 12% read their Bible once or twice a month.
• 9% read their Bible several times per year.
• 33% seldom or never read their Bible.  

May I remind you this is a survey of Christians. Let me frame it in another way. Fifty-five percent of Christians read their Bible once or twice a month or less. I wonder if those who are in the once or twice a month category are referring to reading the Bible when they are in church. Is there any wonder why Christians are not growing and maturing in their faith? 

If you are not reading the Bible, this means you are consuming a lot of other things, many of which I can assure you are not good for your spiritual development. In the same way, you cannot be physically healthy if you don’t eat or if you only consume junk food. You cannot be spiritually healthy if you neglect God’s word. This is not something you can take lightly. If you don’t know your word, you are subject to deception. You won’t know how to live as God wants you to, and every wind of doctrine or any other nonsense the world throws your way can twist and turn you. In short, you are doing yourself a disservice and stunting your growth if you ignore God’s word. 

There are so many verses in the Bible that highlight the benefit of God’s word. Let me remind you of just one.

My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding—

indeed, if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,

then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. - Proverbs 2:1-6

Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Boonchai Wedmakawand 

3. Not being properly discipled.

One of the last instructions Jesus gave his disciples before he left was to go and make more disciples. As part of that, he said to teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. If we are discipling people correctly, it should not only focus on what you believe but also on how you should live. If you have not received proper discipleship, it may not be your fault, especially if you are a new believer. As a new believer, you are depending on those who have more experience than you to show you the way. If they are unable, unwilling, or neglectful, then this can hinder your spiritual growth. If you have never been discipled, make sure you inform the leadership in your church that you want to be. Hopefully, they will be excited about this, and it is something they will be ready and willing to help you with.

Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/fizkes 

4. Trying to be a lone ranger.

More and more, it seems as if people are forsaking the need to be connected to a local body of believers. Either they don’t understand the need, or they just ignore the need. I have heard the gamut of reasons people are choosing to forsake being part of a local church and unfortunately, none of them are good long-term reasons. If you are a lone ranger, you are setting yourself up for trouble. 

The first thing God said about man that wasn’t good is it is not good for man to be alone. That truth has not changed. The Christian life is not meant to be lived in isolation, but in connection with other believers. One of the major ways we can do that is through the local church. There is so much value that is derived from being in fellowship and relationship with other believers and it is to your detriment to neglect this. God did not design you to be a lone ranger, so stop thinking that reality does not apply to you. 

Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up. - Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/byakkaya 

5. Bad influences.

The Bible warns us repeatedly about the danger of being associated with people of bad or questionable character. Here are a few just to remind you.

Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” - 1 Corinthians 15:33

Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble. - Proverbs 13:20 (NLT)

Stay away from a fool, for you will not find knowledge on their lips. - Proverbs 14:7

The truths of these scriptures are clear. Hang with the wrong people and it will stunt your growth. If you are going to grow in the things of God, you need to be around people who have that same desire. I am not saying you can’t have friends who are not believers. I am saying be wise in the ones you choose and how close you get to them. If you are wondering if someone is a good or bad influence, just look at how your behavior changes when you are around them. Consider the things you think about and talk about when you are with them. Looking at those things honestly will give you all the answers you need and hopefully help you decide if that person is good for you or not.

Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/g-stockstudio 

6. Listening to too many voices, especially on social media.

Who do you allow to speak into your life? Who are you listening to? One vehicle we use to gather information about the Bible and other topics regarding our faith is social media. This is a fantastic vehicle because it gives you the opportunity to reach people around the world from the comfort of your own home or wherever you are. However, as with anything that has great potential, it comes with its own level of risks. Social media today gives everyone the opportunity to have a voice. It does not consider whether someone is called to speak or even qualified to do it. The only qualification you need to speak to the world is a camera, and it doesn’t even have to be a good one. 

With this huge influx of voices now available to you, the possibility of being led astray or being fed bad doctrine rises exponentially. One person may say one thing and someone else disputes that and gives you another teaching. If you listen to that long enough, it will leave you confused and unsure of who to listen to or who to trust. 

If you are going to listen to someone on social media, don’t just take their word as truth, but do your own research. If you don’t, then you may be consuming information that will cripple your walk with the Lord. By the way, that’s why having relationships with other believers is so important because they can help you decipher truth from error.

Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/kitzcorner 

7. Having a casual attitude towards sin.

I wish I was wrong about this, but I don’t think I am. It seems as if many Christians today have a casual relationship with sin. Perhaps one reason Christians have a casual attitude toward sin is because they don’t read their Bible. Whatever the reason, many Christians overlook the destructive nature of sin and somehow forget God hates sin. The only thing that is true of sin is if you continue in sin, it will destroy your life. 

You cannot rationalize sin, indulge in it, and expect to grow spiritually. It will not happen. I believe it is safe to say we sometimes forget how egregious sin is to God. If you ever need reminding, consider the incredible price Jesus paid on the cross when his body was literally ripped apart. This was all done because of the horrific nature of sin. In addition, sin has consequences because if you continue in it, eventually it will cost you and possibly cost you everything. There is nothing good that will come from your life if you continue to live in sin. If you want to experience spiritual growth in your life, indulging in sin is not the path to get there. 

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. - 1 Timothy 6:11

Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/Vadym Pastukh  

8. Not being willing to surrender.

Your spiritual growth hinges on one essential truth. Who will you surrender to? This life we live as Christians is a battle of wills. Our will versus God’s will. You will either align your will with what God wants in your life, or you are going to follow the desires of your heart. One path leads to spiritual growth. The other path leads to destruction.

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. - Proverbs 14:12

A successful, growing, maturing Christian is a surrendered Christian. This is the model Jesus set for us and if you follow it, you will experience the greatest growth and maturity in your life. I will not tell you this is the easier way, but I will tell you it is the far better way. If you want to be the person God has called you to be, it requires surrender. There is no other pathway to growth and maturity without it.

Final Thought

If there is a pitfall hindering your spiritual growth, the only remedy is to get rid of it. Don’t be nice with it, but be ruthless in removing this thing. I know the longer these things linger the more difficult they become to move away from. If something is present in your life deal with it and do it quickly.

Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Olaf Speier