What does God say about the power of GROWTH!

We are on an ongoing journey! Ongoing evolution! We are FOREVER a GARDEN!

This concept has rushed in my spirit all month and I can’t help but think about how we are always brought back to the basics of life and how we have to subtract to add in order to grow. We ultimately live in a GREEN ROOM and conservatory (world) for flowers of all kinds to bloom, sprout, and bear their own designated types of fruit. Not only is God the gardener but He has delegated specific people to assist, warn, cultivate, and prepare us throughout our journeys for a LIFETIME. The vessels used to assist in carrying out the cycle of growth in our lives may change through the years but the PROCESS never changes. The plant cycle is continuous and never ending as should be our processes of growth. Every season should meet us with a harvest (the fruits of the spirit, revelation of gifts/purpose, improved stewardship, purpose-driven victories, and so much more).

The Lord revealed to me an acronym to get us through the process of GROWTH!

G: Getting

R: Rid

O: Of

W: What

T: Taught

H:  Hurt

GROWTH: GETTING RID OF WHAT TAUGHT HURT

Friend, think about it! What is the number one thing that stops us from growing? Maturing? Taking risk? Or change?……HURT! Every negative spirit that we could think of whether it be the spirit of abandonment, offense, fear, shame, etc….we were TAUGHT to HURT! Whatever we went through taught us to hurt in specific phases, levels, or parts of our growing journeys. The enemy has a field day teaching us how to hurt while attaching it to some of the things that we have been through or have experienced in our lives ONLY to stop our GROWTH; to stop us from GETTING RID OF WHAT TAUGHT HURT!!

The Lord revealed to me that GROWING is not a process in which we will do by our own might or our own power, but by HIS spirit!! All he needs is a real YES! He is the one that has his hands on the vines as scripture explains in so many ways. His “living” water is what will water our gardens to facilitate growth. His created seasons are what will provide the necessary climates to cause natural processes to occur in our journeys. The winter, summer, fall, and spring are necessary and all considered to be beautiful processes of GETTING RID OF WHAT TAUGHT HURT (GROWTH) respectively.

**Notice that I didn’t say that it gets rid of hurt, but rather what TAUGHT it! We will experience some level of hurt at every growth step, it will be uncomfortable, but the ROOT (what taught it) is what God aims to get rid of**

3 SCRIPTURE HIGHLIGHTS

1. The process of cutting off fruitless branches and pruning other branches that are capable of bearing fruit is a part of GETTING RID OF WHAT TAUGHT HURT (GROWTH). *This helps cope.

·         John 15: 1-8 (NIV)

If you have wisdom and understanding concerning the pruning and process of bearing fruit you will be able to cope with the changes that this part of the process brings. The leaves during the fall that fall look beautiful because we understand and have accepted the beauty of letting go!

2. The wheat remains amongst the weeds until God deems it’s TIME for GETTING RID OF WHAT TAUGHT HURT (GROWTH) and separating the two at harvest. *This helps with patience.

·         Matthew 13:24-30 (MSG)

In their early stages of growth, weeds and wheat look very similar and are not easily distinguishable. People around Jesus were eager to pull up right away the weeds of the world and to retain only the wheat in God’s farm. Jesus decides against rash judgment and merciless action and proposes instead to give sinners the chance to be converted (through their own growth processes). He teaches us to be tolerant and patient towards others’ misdeeds, thereby inviting us also towards self-introspection instead of pointing accusing fingers at others. We cannot do anything less than follow Jesus’ patience and tolerance towards our neighbors and ourselves.

3. Your GETTING RID OF WHAT TAUGHT HURT (GROWTH) is to lead others to grow, not for you to boast about; God can grow you in this season and stunt if not cut off your growth in the next. *This teaches us humility.

·         Romans 11: 13-24 (NLT)

God allowed others to shine and grow to simply arouse some level of jealousy amongst the Gentiles to win them over and save some of them. This was not an opportunity for those who were grafted in to boast as they too could be cut off and be re-grafted in.

Concentration: Think about some of the things that have taught you hurt. Write them down. Ask yourself how would your life, level of maturity, or season change if you were to GET RID of it? Start there.

Prayer: Lord, I pray that we can come to terms with the TRUE meaning of GROWTH and that we could find the comfort in knowing that letting go of what causes us to hurt is the first of many steps to allowing ourselves to grow and move to the next level or dimension in our lives. Let us not only be patient with ourselves, but be patient with others. Let us not boast in who is quicker or slower. Let us turn over all that frustrates or stunts our growth to you in this season. Father, we pray that we can GET RID OF WHAT TAUGHT HURT in this phase of our journeys. Amen. 

By: Samantha Liberal Founder of Pure Friendships