Do Not Mistake Survival For Growth

Becoming accustomed to struggle is not the same as building a life that shows evidence of spiritual growth.

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Spiritual maturity is more than becoming accustomed to struggle; it produces evidence of growth and stability in a believer's life.

• Being used to struggle does not necessarily mean that a person has become strong.
• Survival is different from building; continuing to live through difficulty does not by itself show that something lasting is being established.
• Hard work should produce evidence of what has been built rather than merely keeping a person alive from one difficulty to the next.
• The wilderness is not presented as the final place of a believer's development.
• Spiritual maturity becomes visible when what God is doing in a person's life produces lasting evidence.

• Examine whether you are merely surviving or actually growing.
• Look for evidence of spiritual maturity in your character and obedience.
• Do not become satisfied with simply enduring the same struggles year after year.
• Ask God to show you what needs to change so that your life produces lasting fruit.