Personal Growth (1)

"Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding."           Proverbs 3:13 NIV
Here are three reasons we don't experience personal growth: (1) We think it comes strictly from experience.  Believing personal growth comes only from experience, is like an archer shooting arrows off-target and thinking he's improving simply because he keeps on shooting.  Experience is only profitable if you learn from it and start hitting your target.  Pulitzer prize-winning composer Gian Carlo Menotti said, "Hell begins on the day God grants us a clear vision of all we might have achieved...the gifts we wasted...and all we might have done but didn't do."  Don't end your life regretting the time and opportunities you wasted.  Use every opening God gives you to grow, starting today.  (2) We think growth comes strictly from information.  Have you ever known someone who was absolutely brilliant yet never seemed to accomplish anything of benefit for God, themselves, or others?  They're like an encyclopedia filled with knowledge that has no value because it's never used.  The greatest obstacle to personal growth isn't ignorance; it's the illusion of knowledge!  The Bible says "Be...doers of the word, and not hearers only" (James 1:22).  (3) We assume growth is automatic.  When we are children growth comes naturally. During that time there are parents, coaches, and teachers challenging us to develop on a daily basis, so we get used to growth.  The problem comes when we get out of school and nobody is pushing us to grow or go any further.  The price of growth is always less than the cost of ignorance and stagnation.  And the truth is, if you don't take responsibility for your personal growth--it won't happen.

This message taken from: Daily Devotional - The Word For You Today