Podcast: Download (Duration: 13:41 — 9.4MB)

To grow spiritually in order to be an instrument of God

Parents are overjoyed when children are born. It's a special moment when life begins. In the beginning, a child is delicate and small; everyone wants to see and admire it. It is helpless and dependent on its parents, who gladly care for the baby. But if, after five years, the child still cannot sit up or speak, then one wonders what went wrong in its development.

Spiritual growth in three stages

Just as a child must be born to grow and develop, so too is a birth necessary for spiritual growth—rebirth. Rebirth is the work of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God. “For you have been born again, not of corruptible seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God” (1 Peter 1:23).

To understand that there is also growth in a spiritual sense, one must read the second chapter of the First Epistle of John. In these verses, John divides the children of God who have accepted the forgiveness of sins into three different categories: the fathers, the young men, and the children.

The defining characteristic of the first category is that the knowledge of Christ and the growth in faith have progressed to the point where believers are considered adults. The second category is characterized by having overcome the enemy through the Word of God. The final category describes the beginning of a Christian life—the forgiveness of sins, the first love for the Father, and utterly unwavering trust.

Let the Lord use you

After my wife had pleaded for my conversion to the Lord for two years, I converted. Then, in her simplicity, she prayed one day that she was saved, that her husband had converted, and that their children were still young and innocent. She asked him to take them to heaven so they could be with Him. At that, she heard the gentle voice of the Holy Spirit, who told her that He had been waiting for her for 28 years and that He still wanted to use her. She began to weep and repented of her selfish thoughts.

Jesus said, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you” (John 15:16). Jesus’ desire is that we bear fruit in his Father’s vineyard.

God only gives us as much as we can bear.

I am the father of seven children. I can't give each child the same task. For example, I can't yet entrust my five-year-old son with kitchen duty because I know the dishes might get broken. The task would be too much for him and beyond his capabilities, even if he would love to do it. But I can entrust this task to my ten-year-old son because he is already experienced in it.

It is the same with our heavenly Father. He entrusts us with things according to our ability, as we learn in the parable of the talents (cf. Mt 25:14-30).

Personal experiences in service to God

When I turned to God at the age of 29, I had a great longing for pure spiritual milk, as Peter writes: “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up in your salvation” (1 Peter 2:2). The Word of God is the right food for spiritual growth.

At that time, I had a special desire to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and to receive water baptism so that I could then serve in the church. I still remember exactly the prayer I said to God: “Lord, if you baptize me with the Holy Spirit and I can then receive water baptism, then I promise you that I will accept every service you give me.” It was like a vow that I made before God at that time.

Everything I had prayed for came true. After about a month as a member of the church, I was entrusted with the ministry of leading children's ministry. I had no reservations about accepting this ministry, as I had spoken with God about it beforehand.

But when I stood before these eight- to ten-year-old children and had to tell them a story, I blushed and sweated with excitement. I saw the children notice and smile. I prayed, “Lord, help me! I can’t do any of this, but you have called me to this ministry, and I believe you can enable me to perform it.” The Bible says, “Without me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

The first steps of my spiritual growth

The first and most important thing in serving the Lord is prayer. In prayer, we express our desires and concerns. Or we even make vows, as I did before my water baptism. Then we see how God begins to work. How He adds more and more ministries and tests you to see how faithful you are to Him in one situation or another.

Furthermore, faithfulness is my guiding principle in serving the Lord, whether as a usher, preacher, or minister to children. I wanted to perform these services throughout my life and be faithful to God in my everyday life situations.

“Whoever is faithful in a very little will be faithful in much, and whoever is dishonest in a very little will be dishonest in much” (Luke 16:10). Those who wish to become and remain faithful in great things must first be consistently faithful in small things, in the little things of everyday life. Before God, it is not the size of the task He has entrusted to us that matters. He wants to see our faithfulness and devotion.

Even in the Bible we see that great men started small. Take Moses and David, for example. Both served for years among the sheep, a service that shaped them and allowed them to mature. Only then were they entrusted with the people of Israel.

True faithfulness is not based on the magnitude of the act performed, but on the conscientious sense of duty and responsibility of the one who practices it. God's faithfulness to us is evident in many words and events in Holy Scripture, and therefore the Lord expects us to practice faithfulness to Him.

God's purpose for you

I once heard of a case where someone was offered the position of children's group leader but declined because he already saw himself as a youth leader. This person's spiritual development had stagnated because he didn't prioritize God in his decision, but rather other motives.

When I read the Book of Judges, I find Gideon's story particularly compelling. God uses us humans and allows us to participate in His work, but never in the glory of God. In short: God alone deserves the glory!

Of 32,000 warriors, only 10,000 initially remained; all the others were afraid. Then the army was divided once more, and only 300 men remained, to be used by God in victory against a countless enemy force. With this, God shows that He can do much with little (cf. Judges 7:1-25). Who were these 300 men? What qualities did they possess that allowed the Lord to use them? They were ready to go and had not laid down their weapons when they drank from the stream. They had faith that God would grant victory and that through this victory His name would be glorified and honored. The Lord calls us, the warriors of the New Testament, to be “ready to proclaim the gospel of peace” (Ephesians 6:15).

Let God guide you.

I often found myself in situations where I could tell people about God. In those moments, I simply obeyed the voice of the Holy Spirit. Through this, I learned to preach and overcome my fear of people. These situations allowed me to see God at work in my life and to grow in faith, especially by witnessing people's conversions through my preaching. I'm often asked if I've always been evangelistic because it seems so easy and effortless for me. I tell them it happens through God's help and that I'm simply willing to let Him work in my life.

In 2019, I was asked to minister to a small congregation of about 15 members. I was to leave the church where I was born and served in order to minister to this small congregation with my family. It wasn't an easy decision, but when the presiding bishop of the region asked me if I would serve there, it felt as if God himself was asking me. I had promised Him at that time that I would accept any ministry He gave me, and so I agreed.

This decision shaped me and my family. We grew spiritually—my wife and I, and our children as well. I was privileged to see my children begin to serve musically in the church, and God blessed them. I witnessed people turning to God, and continue to do so. I am grateful to God for entrusting me with the ministry of a church that at one point had 111 members, including 86 children and young people.

And all this through His grace and love for us, His church. The prayer I said to those children in Sunday school when I told this story still holds true. I still pray the same way: Lord, I cannot do it without you! Everything that lives grows and bears fruit, and we too grow spiritually when we serve God and listen to His voice.

Gratitude for the service

Gratitude is also a very important aspect of serving the Lord. Through giving thanks, we give God the glory for everything, and we are filled with joy in the Holy Spirit when we see that God uses us. It is a special feeling when we are filled with gratitude.

“But speaking the truth in love, we shall grow in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every ligament, grows and builds itself up in love” (Eph 4:15-16).

If we adhere to the word of God, allow ourselves to be guided by the Holy Spirit, and keep the Lord Jesus in focus and at the center of our lives, then we can grow and become more like Him, so that our hearts are filled with the love of God.

Vitali Müller

Municipality of Cloppenburg

Bible quotations follow the translation by Martin Luther (rev. 1984).