🎥 Video 1A Transcript: Welcome to Introduction to Spiritual Growth

Hi, I am Haley, a Christian Leaders Institute presenter.

Welcome to Introduction to Spiritual Growth.

This course begins with a simple but important question: What is spiritual growth?

Many people think spiritual growth means becoming more religious, learning more Bible facts, praying more often, or becoming a better person. Those things may be involved, but spiritual growth is deeper than religious activity or self-improvement.

In this course, spiritual growth is understood through the whole biblical story: Creation, Fall, Redemption, Calling, Mission, and Destiny.

We begin with creation. Genesis teaches that God created human beings in his image. In Genesis 2:7, God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into him the breath of life, and the man became a living soul.

That means human beings are not split into two separate parts, as if the body is unspiritual and the soul is the only part that matters. From the Organic Human perspective, a person is an embodied soul. The spiritual nature and the physical nature belong together. You are not a soul trapped inside a body. You are a living person before God.

This matters for spiritual growth.

Spiritual growth is not escaping your body. It is not ignoring your emotions. It is not pretending your habits, relationships, work, calling, and physical life do not matter. Spiritual growth is the whole person being restored, realigned, and renewed before God.

But the Bible also teaches the fall. Adam and Eve were tempted to distrust God, reject holy boundaries, and seek wisdom apart from obedience. The fall was the fall of the soul. The whole person became separated from God’s design.

Yet God had a plan. From Genesis 3:15 forward, the Bible tells the story of redemption. In the fullness of time, Jesus Christ came as Savior and Lord. Through him, fallen human beings are invited back to God, reborn by the Spirit, and restored for a life of faith, fruit, calling, mission, and hope.

In this course, you will study spiritual creation, spiritual fall, spiritual redemption, spiritual rebirth, spiritual walk, spiritual fruit, spiritual discernment, spiritual relationships, spiritual calling, spiritual gifts, spiritual mission, and spiritual destiny.

You will learn that all of life can become ministry when surrendered to Christ.

May this course help you grow as a whole person before God: created in his image, redeemed by Christ, led by the Spirit, and called to serve in this world with hope.