What's Holding You Back?

These thoughts I originally thought may be sermon. However, the Holy Spirit has led me to write it as a blogpost. I truly believe God desires us to grow in our faith. Yet some believers have little or even no spiritual growth in their lives even though many have been saved for many years. 

Therefore, the question comes to mind, What's holding you back? I believe there are any number of things holding Christians back in their spiritual growth. I want to touch on a few of these today. 

Let me preface this by saying if you find yourself in this list it is incumbent on you to do something about it. The ball is in your court. 

Let's look at some things that are holding many believers back in their spiritual lives. 

• Backbiting 
• Backbiting, by definition, is to say mean or spiteful things about a person - usually someone not present. 
• Complaining/Griping
• There are some people who are never happy no matter the circumstances. They gripe and complain about every situation or even other people. They don't do anything about what they are griping and complaining about - they just gripe and complain which tends to stir up strife. They are part of the problem as opposed to part of the solution
• Gossiping 
• Gossiping is habitually revealing personal, intimate or sensational facts about others. How many times have you said something to the effect "You didn't hear this from me but..." and then to go on to share a nice juicy tidbit of gossip - that may or may not be entirely true. Sometimes we even embellish the information to make it even more "juicy". 
• Language 
• This not only includes profanity but all the negative  and hypocritical talk that comes from one's mouth. As Christians we are supposed to be different from the world. 
• Hypocrisy 
• The practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior doesn't conform. In a nutshell, to say one thing while doing another. To be a pretender.
• Causing Divisions 
• People who cause people to take sides against one another. This oftentimes turns very bitter. There is much in the Bible about those who cause divisions. 

Again, if you see yourself in any of these things you can change all this. As the old hymn says, "Just a little talk with Jesus makes it right". Do you want to make things right? Do you want to be part of the solution instead of part of the problem? Have that little talk with Jesus. Confess the areas that have affected you and ask Him to change you. Be sure to do your part. You will notice a huge difference in your life. 

My next blogpost will deal with "What's Holding The Church Back?" 

Until next time...enjoy the journey!

Ray

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