Building the Believer — Chair 2

When a person puts their faith in Christ, they become a child of God. They are now a spiritual infant. From a natural point of view, what do infants need us to do for them? Everything, right? An infant needs their parent to care for them. An infant can’t yet walk, getting to where they need to go. They need to be carried or pushed in a stroller. An infant can’t talk. They will need to learn to formulate words and communicate. An infant can’t feed themselves. They need to be breast fed, or bottle fed. An infant can’t clean themselves. They make messes. Dirty diapers, slobber-covered clothes and crusty noses all have to be cleaned. A good, loving parent will gladly do all of this and more for their child, but they don’t plan on doing it forever. The hope, the goal even, is to teach your child how to care for themselves so they can grow to be happy and healthy. A good parent teaches their child how to clothe themselves, clean themselves and feed themselves.

Every new Christian, as a spiritual infant, must learn several basic things in order to be healthy and grow spiritually. We use the acronym,

IWTFC, or I Want To Follow Christ, to outline five of these essentials for growing as a believer.

IDENTITY

Every believer must know whose they are, that they now belong to the family of God. They must also know who they are in Christ. They must understand their new spiritual identity.

WALK

Every believer must learn how to walk with Christ. They must learn how to walk in the Spirit, walk in obedience and walk in love.

TALK

Every believer must learn how to talk to God in prayer. They must also learn how to talk to other believers, encouraging and building them up. They must also learn how to talk to their spiritually lost friends, sharing their faith story in a simple, clear way.

FEED

Every believer must learn how to feed on God’s Word. They must learn how to read God’s Word, study God’s Word, memorize God’s Word, meditate on God’s Word and apply God’s Word to their everyday life.

CLEAN

Every believer must learn how to confess their sin and be restored to fellowship with God. We all make mistakes. We all sin. We must learn how to come clean with God and ultimately have victory over sin and temptation.

As each of these essentials are established in a new believer’s life, they will grow to become more like Jesus.

“And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.” Colossians 2:6-7