One of the things many Christians are looking for is how do I grow spiritually?

I think many things can help you grow your faith, but two of them stand out in the New Testament. One that we often talk about and one we do not — one surprising and one that isn’t.

Let’s start with the one that you might expect.

Community. Relationships.

We all know that community and relationships make an enormous impact in positive and negative ways.

Throughout the New Testament, we see that we are to pursue being one with others. We are to love them, care for them, do life with them. Too many of though, are trying to grow spiritually on our own. We are trying to figure out God’s will for our lives, figure out our spiritual gifts and do that all in isolation. The reality is, though, many of those things become more apparent to us in community.

I can’t become all that God wants me to become in isolation.

J.D. Greear said, “The church is to be God’s demonstration community.”

It is through relationships that we show what God is like. It is a willingness to be humble, to love, to serve, to handle complicated relationships, and forgive that we show what God is like.

The second we grow spiritually, and this is the surprising one, or at least, the one we wished weren’t true, and that is difficulties.

When life is going well, relationships are hitting on all cylinders, my career and finances are going well; my perceived need for God goes down. I start to think I can handle most of my life and turn less and less to God.

But when life is hard. When I find myself facing the dark night of the soul or a desert season, I am very aware of my need for God.

While we will run toward community and relationships, we will often do what we can to avoid difficulty in life, but both are needed to grow in our relationship with God.