📖 Reading 1.1: Defining Spiritual and Growth from an Organic Human Perspective
📖 Reading 1.1: Defining Spiritual and Growth from an Organic Human Perspective
Introduction: What Are We Really Seeking?
When someone says, “I want to grow spiritually,” what are they seeking?
Some are seeking peace.
Some are seeking forgiveness.
Some are seeking purpose.
Some are seeking healing from shame, fear, anger, addiction, grief, or confusion.
Some are seeking a closer walk with God.
Some are seeking clarity about their calling.
Some are seeking a life that finally feels aligned with what God intended.
At Christian Leaders Institute, spiritual growth is not treated as a vague religious feeling. It is not merely becoming more informed, more disciplined, or more active in church. Spiritual growth is the whole person being restored, realigned, and renewed before God through Jesus Christ by the work of the Holy Spirit.
This course begins by exploring two words: spiritual and growth.
To define these words biblically, we must begin where the Bible begins: creation.
1. Spiritual: The God-Facing Life of the Whole Person
In common speech, people often use the word spiritual to mean invisible, internal, emotional, mystical, or nonphysical. Someone might say, “I am spiritual but not religious,” meaning they have private beliefs or inner experiences. Others may think spiritual life means escaping the body, rising above ordinary responsibilities, or living in a world of prayer and worship that is separate from work, family, health, and daily life.
But the Bible gives us a richer and more grounded understanding.
Genesis 2:7 says:
“Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
— Genesis 2:7, WEB
This verse does not describe the human person as a soul trapped inside a body. It does not present the body as a disposable shell. It does not teach that the physical part of the human is low and the spiritual part is high.
Instead, Genesis shows the organic unity of the human person.
God forms the human from the dust of the ground. That means human life is physical, earthy, embodied, and connected to creation. Then God breathes into the human the breath of life. That means human life is also God-given, spiritually alive, dependent on God, and personally addressed by God.
The result is not a body plus a separate soul. The result is a living soul.
From the Organic Human perspective, the human person is an embodied soul. The spiritual nature and physical nature belong together in one living person. The soul is not a ghost inside the body. The soul is the living person before God: spiritual and physical, relational and responsible, worshiping and working, thinking and feeling, speaking and choosing.
This means that spiritual does not mean nonphysical.
Spiritual means God-related.
Spiritual means Spirit-responsive.
Spiritual means worshiping.
Spiritual means morally responsible.
Spiritual means meaning-bearing.
Spiritual means capable of communion with God.
Spiritual means able to hear, trust, obey, love, serve, repent, and hope.
A spiritual person is not someone who ignores ordinary life. A spiritual person is someone whose whole life is being brought into alignment with God.
2. Growth: Movement Toward God’s Design
The second word is growth.
Growth means movement from immaturity toward maturity. Growth means development, fruitfulness, strengthening, and formation. In Scripture, growth is often described using living images: seeds, plants, trees, vines, fruit, roots, branches, and harvest.
Psalm 1 describes the blessed person this way:
“He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water,
that produces its fruit in its season,
whose leaf also does not wither.
Whatever he does shall prosper.”
— Psalm 1:3, WEB
Jesus uses similar language in John 15 when he says:
“I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for apart from me you can do nothing.”
— John 15:5, WEB
Biblical growth is not self-generated improvement. A branch does not create life by trying harder. A branch bears fruit because it remains connected to the vine.
So spiritual growth is not merely becoming more religious. It is not simply getting better habits. It is not collecting more Bible knowledge while remaining disconnected from God. Spiritual growth is the whole person being restored into living connection with God.
Spiritual growth includes:
Trust — learning to rely on God rather than self-rule.
Repentance — turning from sin and returning to God’s design.
Renewal — being transformed in mind, desire, habit, and action.
Fruitfulness — growing in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Discernment — learning to recognize what is good, wise, true, and faithful.
Calling — living as an image-bearer with purpose in God’s world.
Mission — serving others as part of God’s redemptive work.
Hope — looking toward resurrection and new creation.
Spiritual growth is movement toward God’s original design and redemptive purpose.
3. Creation: Designed for Communion, Work, Relationship, and Boundaries
To understand spiritual growth, we must understand what humans were created for.
Genesis 1 teaches that human beings were created in the image of God:
“God said, ‘Let’s make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’”
— Genesis 1:26, WEB
To be made in God’s image is to be created with dignity, responsibility, agency, relational capacity, and calling. Human beings are not random creatures. They are image-bearers.
Genesis 2 then shows the human placed in the garden:
“Yahweh God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.”
— Genesis 2:15, WEB
This matters deeply. Before sin entered the world, there was work. Work is not a punishment. Meaningful labor belongs to creational design. Cultivating and keeping are spiritual activities because they are part of humanity’s God-given calling.
Genesis 2 also includes relationship. God says:
“It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
— Genesis 2:18, WEB
Human beings are made for communion with God and meaningful relationship with one another.
Genesis 2 also includes freedom and boundaries. God gives Adam many trees to enjoy, but one tree is forbidden:
“Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.’”
— Genesis 2:16–17, WEB
This is important for spiritual growth. Boundaries are not evil. Limits are not the enemy. Creaturely dependence is not humiliation. God’s boundaries are part of his good design.
Spiritual growth includes receiving God-given limits with trust.
4. Fall: The Soul Missing the Mark
Genesis 3 shows how humanity fell.
The serpent questioned God’s word, distorted God’s command, and suggested that God’s boundary was withholding something good. The temptation was not merely to eat forbidden fruit. The deeper temptation was to seek wisdom, freedom, and God-likeness apart from God.
The serpent said:
“You won’t really die, for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
— Genesis 3:4–5, WEB
This is the ancient lie of boundaryless spirituality.
Satan suggested that Adam and Eve could become truly alive by stepping outside God’s design. He suggested that limits were oppression. He suggested that independence from God would bring enlightenment.
But the result was not life. It was shame, hiding, blame, fear, alienation, and death.
Genesis 3:8 says Adam and Eve hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God. The relationship was broken. The soul had fallen.
This fall was not merely spiritual in a narrow sense. It affected the whole person.
Their relationship with God was damaged.
Their relationship with one another was damaged.
Their relationship with their bodies was damaged by shame.
Their relationship with work was damaged by frustration.
Their relationship with creation was damaged.
Their sense of identity was damaged.
Their trust was damaged.
Their freedom was damaged.
This is why spiritual growth cannot be reduced to positive thinking or moral effort. The human problem is deeper than lack of information. Humanity has missed the mark of God’s design.
Romans 3:23 says:
“For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.”
— Romans 3:23, WEB
Spiritual growth begins with honesty about the fall.
We are image-bearers, but fallen.
We are responsible, but wounded.
We have agency, but our desires are disordered.
We long for God, but we also hide from him.
We want freedom, but we often resist the boundaries that make freedom fruitful.
5. Redemption: The Way Back to God
The good news is that God did not abandon his creation.
Even in Genesis 3, God gives a promise. Speaking to the serpent, God says:
“I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”
— Genesis 3:15, WEB
This verse begins the biblical story of redemption. The work of Satan will not have the final word. God will act to redeem his creation, even through fallen human beings.
The rest of Scripture unfolds this epic story.
God calls Abraham.
God forms Israel.
God gives the law.
God sends prophets.
God promises a Messiah.
God sends his Son.
Jesus Christ dies for sins.
Jesus rises from the dead.
The Holy Spirit is poured out.
The church is sent into the world.
The gospel goes to the nations.
Christ will return.
The dead will be raised.
Creation will be made new.
In the fullness of time, the way back to God is revealed in Jesus Christ.
Jesus says:
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.”
— John 14:6, WEB
Spiritual growth is therefore Christ-centered. We do not grow our way back to God by human effort. We are brought back to God through Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 2:8–10 says:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.”
— Ephesians 2:8–10, WEB
Notice the order. Grace comes first. Salvation is a gift. But grace does not leave us passive. We are created in Christ Jesus for good works.
Spiritual growth is grace-formed participation in God’s renewed purpose.
6. Spiritual Growth as Whole-Person Alignment
Now we can give a fuller definition.
Spiritual growth is the Spirit-led restoration and formation of the whole person into deeper alignment with God through Jesus Christ.
It includes the spiritual nature, but not in isolation from bodily life. It includes the physical life, but not reduced to biology. It includes relationships, but not merely social skills. It includes calling, but not ambition. It includes mission, but not activism without communion with God.
Spiritual growth means that the whole person is being reoriented toward God.
The mind is renewed.
The body is offered to God.
The heart is softened.
The will is surrendered.
The emotions are brought into truth.
The habits are reshaped.
The relationships are healed and ordered.
The gifts are stewarded.
The calling is discerned.
The mission is embraced.
The destiny is remembered.
Romans 12:1–2 brings this together beautifully:
“Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
— Romans 12:1–2, WEB
Present your bodies.
Be transformed.
Renew your mind.
Discern God’s will.
That is whole-person spiritual growth.
7. What Spiritual Growth Is Not
It is helpful to name some misunderstandings.
Spiritual growth is not becoming less human.
God does not save us by making us less embodied, less relational, or less responsible. Christ restores our humanity.
Spiritual growth is not religious performance.
A person can attend church, complete courses, quote Scripture, and still avoid surrender, repentance, love, and obedience.
Spiritual growth is not private self-improvement.
Spiritual growth is personal, but not isolated. It affects family, church, work, community, and mission.
Spiritual growth is not emotional intensity.
Some people confuse strong feelings with spiritual maturity. Emotions matter, but maturity is measured by faith, love, obedience, fruit, discernment, and perseverance.
Spiritual growth is not perfection now.
Believers still struggle. They repent, learn, confess, receive grace, and continue walking with God.
Spiritual growth is not calling without character.
Gifts and mission matter, but spiritual fruit matters deeply. God forms the person, not just the platform.
8. What Spiritual Growth Includes
Spiritual growth includes several movements that this course will explore.
Spiritual Creation
You were created as an image-bearer, an embodied soul, designed for communion with God, relationship, meaningful work, holy boundaries, and worship.
Spiritual Fall
Sin disordered the whole person. The soul fell away from God’s design, and humanity began to live with shame, hiding, blame, fear, and death.
Spiritual Redemption
God opened the way back through Jesus Christ. Redemption is not self-repair. It is grace.
Spiritual Rebirth
Through Christ and the Spirit, a person can be born anew, forgiven, adopted, and made alive to God.
Spiritual Walk
Growth happens through repeated walking with God: Scripture, prayer, worship, repentance, community, service, and rest.
Spiritual Fruit
The Holy Spirit forms character that connects us to God and others: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Spiritual Discernment
Believers learn to discern wisely, seeing both creational realities and redemptive direction through Scripture, the Spirit, wisdom, and community.
Spiritual Calling
All of life can become ministry. A person may serve God in church ministry, business, science, teaching, family life, community service, volunteer ministry, part-time ministry, or full-time gospel ministry.
Spiritual Gifts
The Spirit gives gifts for service, not status.
Spiritual Mission
God calls his people to participate in his redemptive work in the world.
Spiritual Destiny
Christian hope looks toward death in Christ, heaven with the Lord, final resurrection, the spiritual body, and the new creation.
9. Ministry Application: Helping Others Understand Spiritual Growth
As a Christian leader, chaplain, coach, minister, mentor, or volunteer, you will meet people who misunderstand spiritual growth.
Some will think they are too broken to grow.
Some will think growth is only for strong Christians.
Some will think God only cares about church activities.
Some will think their body, work, relationships, or emotions are not spiritual matters.
Some will think calling only belongs to pastors.
Some will think failure means God is finished with them.
This course helps you speak a better word.
You can say:
“Spiritual growth is not pretending you are whole. It is bringing your whole self to God.”
You can say:
“You are an image-bearer, even though sin has wounded and distorted human life.”
You can say:
“God’s boundaries are not against your life. They are part of his good design.”
You can say:
“Jesus Christ is the way back to God.”
You can say:
“The Holy Spirit forms growth over time.”
You can say:
“All of life can become ministry when surrendered to Christ.”
You can say:
“Your destiny in Christ gives hope for your present struggle.”
This kind of ministry language brings truth without shame and hope without pretending.
10. Do and Do Not Guidance
Do
Do begin spiritual growth with God’s story, not merely personal goals.
Do teach that humans are embodied souls created in God’s image.
Do honor both spiritual and physical realities.
Do connect spiritual growth to creation, fall, redemption, calling, mission, and destiny.
Do emphasize grace before growth.
Do teach that the body matters in spiritual worship.
Do connect spiritual growth to relationships, work, habits, discernment, and calling.
Do encourage students to walk with God through repeated practices.
Do help people see that all of life can become ministry.
Do Not
Do not teach that the body is unspiritual or unimportant.
Do not reduce spiritual growth to church activity.
Do not reduce spiritual growth to emotional experience.
Do not treat growth as self-salvation.
Do not shame people for immaturity.
Do not confuse gifts with maturity.
Do not present calling as only full-time church employment.
Do not ignore the fall, sin, repentance, and responsibility.
Do not ignore grace, redemption, and new creation hope.
11. Reflection and Application Questions
When you hear the phrase “spiritual growth,” what do you usually think of first?
How does Genesis 2:7 challenge the idea that the soul is separate from or more important than the body?
What does it mean to say that a human being is an embodied soul?
Why is it important to begin spiritual growth with creation rather than only with sin?
How did Satan’s temptation in Genesis 3 attack trust, boundaries, and God’s design?
Where do you see shame, hiding, blame, or fear in your own spiritual journey?
How does Jesus Christ open the way back to God?
Why must grace come before spiritual growth?
Which area of your life do you sometimes treat as “not spiritual”: body, work, emotions, money, relationships, habits, calling, or rest?
What would it look like for you to bring that area into alignment with God?
How might this reading help you explain spiritual growth to a new believer?
What phrase from this reading could become part of your future Spiritual Growth Handbook?
Closing Formation Prayer
Lord God,
You created us as living souls, made in your image, formed for communion with you.
We confess that sin has disordered our trust, desires, relationships, habits, and calling.
Thank you for sending Jesus Christ as the way back to you.
Teach us to grow by grace.
Renew our minds.
Restore our hearts.
Guide our bodies, words, work, relationships, and calling.
Help us walk by the Spirit and bear fruit that honors you.
Make all of life ministry before you.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
References
Genesis 1:26–28, WEB
Genesis 2:7, WEB
Genesis 2:15–18, WEB
Genesis 3:1–15, WEB
Psalm 1:1–3, WEB
John 14:6, WEB
John 15:1–17, WEB
Romans 3:23, WEB
Romans 12:1–2, WEB
Galatians 5:22–25, WEB
Ephesians 2:8–10, WEB
1 Corinthians 15:35–58, WEB