We live in a world that runs on urgency. Everything is optimized for speed.

Quick answers.

Instant results.

Visible change.

But spiritual growth rarely works like that. God is not hurried. He is holy. And He does His most enduring work slowly, carefully, and deeply.

In 2 Corinthians 3:18, Paul writes, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (NKJV).

The image here is incremental. One degree at a time. Not all at once. Not in a rush. Not for show.But steadily. Quietly. Faithfully. The Spirit of God transforms us not in flashes of performance but in the furnace of process.

When Spiritual Growth Feels Slow:

Sometimes, spiritual growth feels so subtle we wonder if it’s happening at all. There are days we still battle fear, still wrestle with control, and still fall into thought or behavior patterns we thought we had outgrown.

We can become frustrated and wonder why it’s taking so long? But sanctification is not a staircase. It’s more like a spiral. There are layers. There is repetition. God brings us back to places we thought we had mastered; not to shame us, but to go deeper.

He is not in the business of surface level change. He is after transformation and transformation takes time.

What looks like delay is often mercy. God knows that to reveal every sinful tendency at once would crush us, so He works layer by layer.

He convicts without condemning. He exposes in order to restore. This is mercy, mercy that sanctifies.

When We Wish Others’ Would Grow Faster:

If we are honest, it is not only our own growth that feels slow. Sometimes we struggle to trust God with the pace of others’ spiritual growth as well. We see a friend still entangled in pride, a family member still stuck in destructive patterns, or a fellow believer still flirting with compromise.

We wonder why they are not further along. But we do not know what the Spirit is doing beneath the surface. We cannot see how He is wrestling with hearts behind closed doors, or how long He has been tending the soil for one seed to take root.

It’s easy to become judgmental in the name of discernment. But biblical judgment is not rooted in impatience. It is rooted in love, humility, and truth.

As Paul reminds us in Ephesians 4:15, we are called to speak the truth in love, growing in every way into Christ. This kind of truth-telling isn’t about control; it’s about compassion.

Jesus Himself warned in Matthew 7:5 to first take the plank out of your own eye so that you can see clearly. Not to accuse, but to help. Humble self-examination must always come before spiritual correction.

We are called to speak truth, but not to assume the Spirit’s timeline.
We are called to pursue holiness, but not to demand conformity.

God is not raising followers who mimic one another. He is forming people into the likeness of Christ and He does this not in mass production but in intimate, individual process.

Spiritual Growth: Holding Space For Mercy

There is a way to care deeply about holiness without becoming harsh. There is a way to call out sin without assuming the role of the Holy Spirit.

There is a way to love people well without rushing their transformation.

We can hold others accountable without holding them hostage to our expectations. We can trust that if the same Spirit is at work in us, He is also at work in them and if we believe God is patient with us, we must extend that patience to others.

Sanctification is sacred ground. Let us tread gently.

Spiritual Growth:Trusting God

What if we stopped measuring our worth by the speed of our sanctification?
What if we stopped measuring others by how quickly they change?

What if we believed that God really is as faithful as He says?

That He finishes what He starts. (Philippians 1:6)
That He works all things together. (Romans 8:28)
That He transforms us in ways we cannot always see. (John 5:17)

This year, I completed an in-depth eight month study of the book of Revelation. In our break out group, there was one theme that came up repeatedly, urgency. As Bible-believing Christians, we know some of what is to come. We know that Jesus is returning, we know that judgment is real, and that eternity matters. We feel the weight of warning others, the urgency of calling people to repentance, and the desire to see transformation NOW.

But even in Revelation, we see God’s patient mercy on full display. In chapter 6, the martyrs beneath the altar cry out, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?”(Revelation 6:10.) They are given white robes and told to wait a little longer. Not because God is absent or indifferent, but because His timing is perfect.

As Peter writes, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9.) This is not negligence. This is mercy.

So don’t hear what I’m not saying. We are not called to sit back in spiritual passivity.
We are on co-mission with Christ. He has entrusted us with the gospel. He is coming again, and we are to live watchfully, prayerfully, and faithfully. And to hope expectantly.

But even as we act, we must learn to trust the Spirit’s pace, in our hearts and in the hearts of others.

We partner with Him not by striving, but by surrender. (Zechariah 4:6)
We obey His leading, speak His truth, and walk in His power. But we do not control outcomes. (Romans 8:14)
We sow the Word, but He makes it grow (1 Corinthians 3:6–7).
We plant seeds in faith and trust that even in the waiting, He is working. (Ecclesiastes 11:6 )

Spiritual growth is not a sprint.
It is the slow miracle of becoming like Christ through the daily, quiet partnership with the Holy Spirit.
One degree at a time.

Though the process may feel gradual or unseen, we can rest in the truth that God is faithful. From glory to glory, He is working in us and through us, shaping us according to His good and perfect plan.

Closing Prayer:

Lord,

Thank You for being so patient with us and for shaping us gently, not in haste, but in love. We confess the times we’ve grown frustrated with our own progress or judged the pace of others’ transformation. Help us to trust Your timing and to believe that You are always at work, even when we cannot see it.

Teach us to honor the slow, steady work of sanctification and to celebrate each small step toward You and to rest in the assurance that we are being transformed into Your image, one degree at a time.

Give us grace for the process, faith for the waiting, and compassion for one another along the way.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

In my last post, Discipleship and the Hope We Carry: A Reflection on 1 Peter 3:15; I talked about what faithful discipleship looks like: how we continue to “water” the seeds we’ve sown by walking alongside others and trusting the Holy Spirit to do the work we can’t. We looked at how Scripture invites us into relational, Spirit-led investment in others’ spiritual growth. Please check it out if you haven’t already. Also, stay tuned for the Bible+Bloom podcast episode one coming soon!

Thanks for being here!