Many people begin the year with New Year’s resolutions. Some hope to lose weight, read more, eat healthier, start a business, or simply spend less time on their phones. Others focus on spiritual growth, committing to read the Bible more consistently or to pray more regularly. Often, these resolutions are driven by an underlying belief: If they could just get there, then life would feel complete.
For high-achieving, goal-oriented people, this mindset can become a constant struggle. Growth becomes defined by the finished product, and the process itself is easily overlooked or undervalued.
But this is not the way God works. Scripture reveals that God is just as present in the process as He is in the finished work. That truth invites a deeper question: how does spiritual growth actually happen?
God Plants Seeds
“This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” Genesis 2:4–7 (NIV)
This passage is familiar to many, yet it holds a surprising detail: God did not plant trees—He planted seeds.
When imagining creation, it is easy to picture fully formed trees bursting from the ground overnight, heavy with fruit, as if the beauty of redwood forests or the Amazon jungle appeared all at once. Yet Scripture says plainly that no plant had yet sprung up. The earth began as a barren landscape.
God certainly had the power to speak fully grown trees into existence. After all, He had already spoken the entire world into being. But instead, He chose a different way.
God expressed His creative power through process. He planted seeds and allowed them to grow.
More than that, He invited humanity into the work. After forming man from the dust, God placed him in the garden “to work it and take care of it” (Genesis 2:15). Growth was never meant to be instant or passive. It was designed to be cultivated through partnership.
Spiritual Growth Is a Process
Spiritual growth unfolds gradually. God plants the seed of the gospel in the human heart, but transformation does not happen overnight. Believers are invited to partner with God in the slow, formative work of becoming who He has called them to be.
Like healthy plants, spiritual lives move through seasons. There are times of visible growth and fruitfulness, and there are times of dormancy. There are seasons of pruning and seasons of nourishment. Growth does not look the same at every stage.
The calling in each season is not to force progress, but to respond faithfully to what God is doing. The Master Gardener knows exactly what kind of care is needed.
This response does not always look like “trying harder.” Many people assume spiritual growth is achieved through increased effort—more prayer, more Scripture reading, more activity. But growth is not measured by output alone. God is not primarily seeking performance; He is shaping hearts.
Spiritual Growth Is a Partnership
Spiritual formation does not follow the world’s model of growth. It is not a hustle, a checklist, or a personal achievement project. It is a partnership with God.
Every spiritual practice—reading Scripture, praying, fasting, serving—is a response to God’s prior work, not an attempt to manufacture growth independently. God initiates transformation, and His people are invited to cooperate with what He is already doing.
For anyone whose New Year’s resolutions feel like they are fading, there is hope. Growth—spiritual or otherwise—was never meant to be rushed. A person is not “behind” simply because they are not where they want to be. God delights in every season of growth, whether it looks like fruitfulness, pruning, dormancy, or renewal.
The deeper questions are these:
- How is God’s creative work being met in this season?
- What would it look like to respond rather than strive?
- How might it change things to rest in being fully loved, right where growth is happening?
A Prayer
Creator God, You are the One who plants the seed of faith and brings growth in Your perfect time. May hearts yield to Your creative work and learn to rest in Your power rather than striving in their own strength. Teach Your people to partner with You in every season—whether growth feels visible or hidden. May they abide in Your love, trusting the work of the True Vine, who makes all things new. Amen.
Interested in growing in your Spiritual life this year? Learn how you can audit a class(es) at The King’s University.