3. Never Take Any Risks.
If you want to ensure that you are the same exact person you were five years ago, be so conservative in everything you do that you don’t take any risks.
But here’s the thing, if you construct a life with minimal risk, you’re essentially editing out the need for faith.
I heard this last week from a talk by Bryan Lorits. He essentially said that faith assumes risk. Imagine if Abraham stayed in Ur, because Ur was more secure. Would he have experienced all the richness of God’s love? Would he have grown into the mighty man of faith we see in Hebrews 11? No, he wouldn’t have.
We probably wouldn’t have heard of him, would we?
Take some risks in life. Put yourself in some situations, relationships, job assignments that are completely and totally foreign, that will require maximum effort and knee-knocking faith.
4. Keep Patting Yourself on the Back.
There is a reason that the Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10).
You only grow and you only find wisdom for life when you realize that you need to grow and that you need wisdom for life.
Lots of young guys do this. They don’t read, study, ask questions, because they think they’ve got it figured out. This was me until I became a father of four and realized I have no clue about life and I need God to pour wisdom into me.
I find this dynamic in my role as a pastor. The most humble, searching, digging-into-the-Scriptures guys are the ones who have lots of responsibility (family, job, etc.). They know they are in need of divine guidance.
If you don’t want to really grow spiritually, keep thinking you know stuff. Wisdom only comes after you’ve bowed your knee in humility to the God who knows all things. As long as you think you are the master of your universe and that you don’t need any help with anything, you will ensure that you will not grow.
