Spiritual Growth (Edited by ChatGPT)

 

God is spirit, and God is worshiped in truth and in the Spirit. This is why faith is not religion — it is life. Faith is a second birth in the Spirit, followed by spiritual growth into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. So our faith is not manifested in religious routine and outer expressions, but in the transformation of life — from flesh guided by darkness toward spiritual life guided by the Holy Spirit.

 

Religion is about the outer part of life, but faith is about the inner part of life. In religion, the outer part is expected to mold the inner part. In faith, the inner is what transforms the outer. Religion is a life-molding environment, but faith is life-defining genetics. Religion works from the outside in, while faith works from the inside out. This process of faith is called spiritual growth, and the end of this process is to print the image of Jesus on the life of every faithful believer.

 

That is why Jesus said in the Great Commission: go to the end of the world, baptize people into the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and remind them to keep all my commandments, making them my disciples. We need to be born again by sinking into the nature of God, and then we need to become disciples of the Lord who keep all his commandments. Keeping his commandments is critical, because only those who keep them are truly his — they are the ones who love Jesus. It is not about saying “Jesus, Jesus” but about obeying his commandments.

 

Who obeyed the commandments of Jesus in this life? Jesus only, for he is the blameless and sinless man-God. Only God is holy, and Jesus was blameless because he is God. Now we have to live like Jesus. That is why Paul insisted he looked like Jesus, and we need to be like Paul so that we can be like Jesus. Is Paul equal to Jesus? No. But he was close enough to have such confidence.

 

So how can anyone live such perfection? Through spiritual growth. It is a process. We are born again, which means our spirit is connected to Jesus by the Holy Spirit, and Jesus is driving our spiritual wheel. The problem is, our old self was crucified with Jesus but not dead. So spiritual growth is the light within us — Jesus — taking over the darkness in and around us. Spiritual growth is the process of our death, so that Jesus can grow in us. The end of this process is to be like Jesus.

 

Who is Jesus that we need to imitate? Homosexual Jesus? Patriotic Jesus? Mighty king of this earth Jesus? Capitalist Jesus? Socialist Jesus? Was Jesus promoting homosexuality on this earth? What about national pride and development? What about being kings and queens of this earth with expensive garments? What about profit-oriented capitalism? What about Marxist Jesus? Jesus is Jesus. He lived, he talked, he worked, he preached, he suffered, and he died in obedience to the Heavenly Father. Jesus is not a hidden person, for four books explain who he is. The entire Bible also declares who he is.

 

So when we grow into Jesus, it does not mean we make our own Jesus in our image and downgrade God to our absurdity. It means leaving behind our absurdity and marching toward Jesus. If we were patriotic, ethnic-centered, socialist, capitalist, humanist, scientist, criminal, thief, prostitute, and sinners, we leave all behind and become a new creation in the image of Jesus.

 

We leave the flesh and the way of the flesh behind to grow in the Spirit. Socialism has virtues, but mixed with the evil of human ignorance. Capitalism has virtues, but it is the result of the thorns and thistles of this earth. Heaven is not about “me” but about “us” — and this “us” is neither socialism nor capitalism but Jesus. Humanism has virtue, and if there were no God, it would be the highest virtue to be a humanist. But when there is God, humanism becomes a fetter against the perfection that Jesus is. Science is useful, but it is not the perfection that Jesus is. Sin is evil and rebellion, but Jesus died to wash our judgment and our sin out of our life. The summit of all virtue, goodness, and perfection is Jesus Christ. So what is imperfect needs to die out, so that what is perfect can take over.

 

If you are socialist, communist, capitalist, patriot, humanist, party member, or sinner — all of that is the work of the flesh, and the flesh cannot please God. All of it must die, and you need to be reborn in the image of Jesus. But this is a process. If you are a communist, it will take time before Jesus takes over, but if you are spiritually growing, your communism will slowly fade away as you sink into Jesus. At first your communism will carry a trace of Jesus, then it will smell like Jesus, then it will seem biblical and Jesus-centered — but finally communism will end up in the trash bin as Jesus takes over.

 

If you are patriotic or humanist, the first steps in Jesus may make you express your patriotism and humanism in a Jesus-centered way. But with growth, they too will hit the dust bin as Jesus takes over. Spiritual growth is the process of killing the old self and being born again in the Spirit in the image of Jesus.

 

What is the focus of Jesus? National development? Political dominance? Equality of the underprivileged with the privileged? Capitalism and its competitive system? No. His focus is salvation of souls, second birth, and spiritual growth. Infants in faith focus on politics, ethnic issues, national issues, ideology, and human fulfillment. But the grown-up have one concern: salvation of lost souls and their growth into the image of Jesus.

 

Our happiness is not when the Nile dam is built and finished, but when souls are saved and spiritual growth is happening. Do we love poverty? No. Who loves poverty? But more than poverty, we love salvation. Do we hate when a runner wins the 10,000-meter race? No. But can we jump up and down over it? We used to — but now we are dead to it, to live for Jesus. Our heart is in another dimension, and we are preoccupied with other problems of faith. Forgive us if we are not consumed with earthly, national, ethnic, and material issues.

 

Do I understand when children behave like children? Yes. I understand when children love coke, biscuits, and do childish things. But I will not understand if they insist we must be children like them. The truly faithful know there are two kinds of human beings: the saved and the lost. The life of the faithful is to grow in spirit with the saved and to rescue the lost into life by Jesus Christ.

 

Faith is not about ethnic boundaries, and it is not about national boundaries. Compared to a faithless person from Tigray, my brother from Amhara who believes is more my brother. Our faith is what matters, not our ethnicity. The life of Jesus is what matters, not our bloodline. Likewise, compared to a faithless Ethiopian, my faithful sister from Egypt is my sister in Jesus. I am not defined by my ethnicity or my nationality — I am of Jesus first and foremost. My faith is beyond ethnic and national lines; it is built on Jesus. My identity is not Ethiopian or Tigrian but Jesus’ own. Jesus is taking over, and other identities are fading away. I am not what is dying out — I am what I am becoming.

 

So forgive us, and really excuse us, if our life is not about football matches, athletics, national development, political ideology, cultural issues, or whatever dirt children play with. Our life is about Jesus and faith. What about food and shelter? Without politics, ethnic or national plans, struggles, and development, who will feed us, clothe us, shelter us, and sustain us? Look at the flowers and the birds — the Lord who sustains them will sustain us.

 

If you cry bread and water 24/7, and focus too much on politics, power, respect, and money — yet are sustained by God — know this: God is not sustaining the flesh and people of the flesh. You are sustained because of us. If 10 or 100 people in a sinful city are God-loving, then the city is sustained because of them. The minority sustains the sinful majority. I am sure that, for our sake, God is giving many undeserving people much blessing. That is why I am sure our faith is sustaining your sinful identity — not the other way around.

 

Whatever we feed our spirit and soul is what grows. Many of us feed on sports, and our life becomes sport. Many of us feed on entertainment, and we become the devil’s entertainment. Many of us feed the flesh, and flesh grows. Many of us feed the devil’s ways, and the devil grows. Many of us feed on food and water, and what grows is the belly. Many of us feed on the love of money, and what grows is the lordship of money. Whatever we feed ourselves is what grows. That is why some things that grow in many people are not growing in us.

 

National development is good — more salary, more bread, better life, and so on. Do we love it? Do we love good life? Of course. Nobody loves suffering. But is our life about the flesh? Is our focus what we eat, drink, and wear? No. It is for God to think about my food, clothing, and water. It is for me to think about the kingdom of God. It is written, and what is written is not void. My profession as an economist is not my faith. I am paid to think about water and bread. On workdays, I think about bread and water. But in the hand of Jesus, I think about life, not bread. Our problem is the kingdom of God, not bread and water. Our kingdom is not ethnic, not national, not even global — it is the kingdom of heaven. Our government is beyond earth — it is up to heaven.

 

To say it again: I can understand why children play in the dirt and love toys for life, but don’t expect us to play with you. Our age makes it inappropriate to play childish games. Spiritual growth is a process, and it makes no sense to explain to a child why coke and cookies will fade away with age. It is wiser to let a child be a child until they grow, so that grownups can talk like grownups. Our problem is not toys and coke — our problem and our prayer is to be transformed into the image of Jesus. Our prayer is not “buy me this and give me that” but “transform me into your image so I could live the way you lived on this earth.” We are thirsty, but not for water. Our thirst is for the Spirit of God. We are poor, but not of money — but of the Spirit. Our problem is why our fading away is slow, and why the Lord has not completely taken over yet.

 

If you see us jump up and down like crazy in the future, it will not be when a national or ethnic runner wins, nor when a football team wins, nor when some national or regional development is achieved, nor when people play their dirt games. It will be when the kingdom of God is expanding in both headcount and depth of faith and obedience to God’s will. Our glory is when the image of Jesus is printed on the face of all the faithful, and billions are saved to Jesus. That is a grown-up thing that infants cannot understand. This is called spiritual growth.