 You ever wake up one day and just realize that you feel far away from God, like you haven't been doing anything specifically that has really drawn you away from Him, but yet you just sense this distance between you. Today I want to talk about seven things that are hindering your spiritual growth and we want to get to the bottom of that kind of distance. We want to get to the bottom of that, that hindrance that's preventing us from moving closer to Christ because we're either moving closer to Him or moving further away from Him. And I think a lot of these factors play into that. This has been an important topic for me to dig into too, just for me personally, like finding out, hey, am I doing any of these things that are directly hindering my faith? Because ultimately we want to be moving closer to Christ. That's the goal of this channel. This is The Daily Disciple where I help you follow Jesus daily and so we want to be moving closer to Christ every single day. So let's get into these seven things and as we're going along here, just mark down, like take note of, okay, have I been doing this? Is this, this might be like a factor here in this distance from God or even just, you know, maybe you're not even sensing that distance from God. You're good, but we need to be aware of these things. We need to be intentional about pursuing Christ. So just take note of each one of these things and just evaluate, hey, am I falling into these things? So let's get into it. First thing is the suppression of doubts and questions. Now in the last week's video, we talked a little bit about kind of the deconstructionist movement. How a lot of people were beginning to ask questions after putting off a lot of these questions for many years of their lives, because they're in environments where questions weren't welcome. They were like, well, you know, you got to believe the fundamentals and if you don't believe that, then get out kind of thing. And I get that, right? You got to have dividing lines. But at the same time, if we don't create environments that you can ask questions and be honest about what you're thinking, then we're missing out. Then we're doing a disservice to people. And so in your personal life, you can ask yourself, am I suppressing questions here? Am I trying to cover for God? Because that's really what it comes down to sometimes. We don't think that God has the answers. So we try to cover for him and we don't ask those questions because we don't think there's a reasonable answer. But listen, friends, there is. I truly believe that there is. And that doesn't mean that we're going to find it right away. But it means that we need to have enough faith in God to not need to cover for him. We don't need to make excuses for God. He's got this. He's God. So, you know, in your own life, just about, hey, are there questions that I've pushed down? What are the questions? And just begin writing down those questions. And it might feel scary to you. Maybe if you grew up in the environment where questions were all of a sudden an accusation against God or an assault on your faith or whatever like this could be a kind of a painful, scary experience. But I just want to encourage you questions aren't a lack of faith. Actually, through questions, through discovering our own doubts and questions, we actually our faith is strengthened in an amazing way. So I want to encourage you write down those questions that you have. So the next thing here is spending too much time immersed in crowds that are either spiritually toxic or relationally toxic. So let's talk a little bit about relational toxicity. Okay. In another video, I think in the next video, we're going to talk about kind of should you cut out toxic people out of your life, but just as a little bit of an egg, you know, a glimpse into that toxic people are people that are hurtful and shaming. They are people that bring up who you once were when you are a new creation. They are people that do not respect your boundaries and boundaries or things that you you put a line in the sand to say this is how I would like to be treated. And if somebody crosses that boundary multiple times, not respecting those boundaries. That is a relationally toxic person. And if you surround yourself with those people, it's going to become draining very quickly. Like I've experienced that when you like people are not respecting your boundaries and you say, hey, I need you to respect my boundaries here, but then they don't. And it just draws you away from God because you're fixed with you're just like so bitter at this person frustrated with the whole situation. When what you need to do is say, hey, I need to distance myself from this person. Say, hey, look, you know, you're you're stepping over my boundaries that I've put up clearly. And I just think I need to distance myself from you. And so let's, you know, talk about spiritually toxic, somebody that encourages you to compromise your faith either directly or just promotes apathy towards God. You know, I think this is a big challenge for anybody, but especially young adults within university, that kind of thing. It can be tough to find people that, you know, line up with your worldview. And I totally I affirm people that are trying to become friends with people that aren't Christians. Because I think that's so important. We got to be a witness, right? But when you're constantly immersed with people that are not only like not affirming your faith and pushing you towards Christ, but they're actually kind of like, well, like bringing in this like sense of like apathy to you. Because you're like, well, they don't really care about this stuff. Why do I need to care? And so I just want to, I want you to watch it, right? Just watch, like evaluate how much time I'm spending with these people. Because, you know, a lot of people can be directly hostile to your faith and you can put up with it with for a time. But listen to me, like, like relationally talk, like relational toxicity, spiritual toxicity will drain you and it's not going to be good. So I can talk about that a little bit more. Let me know in the comments if you want me to talk a little bit more about relational toxicity and spiritual toxicity. But, you know, for now we'll keep moving on. Number three is neglecting spiritual disciplines. I think one of the big things that often gets in the way of people reading the Bible or praying is that they don't think they can, they know how to do it. Or they just don't feel equipped to do it. I saw this amazing clip from Matt Chandler the other day that kind of goes more in depth than this. I don't know how to study. I don't know how to pray. I don't know the Bible. I know that's accusation. It's not true. And you should expect a spiritual fight. So here's an idea. Fight him. Open up your Bible and go, I don't get it. I want to get it. Help me, Holy Spirit. Or swallow your pride and finally tell somebody I have been a lazy moron and I need somebody to help me. Like that, this is getting back and this is waking up. This is getting in the game. Stop believing that you don't know how to pray. You don't know how to read your Bible. You're too dumb to share the gospel. You don't know. Stop it. It's a lie. So number four is unconfessed sin. These are things that hinders your relationship with God or hinders your growth, your spiritual growth. And I remember, like just as an example, when I was a kid, I broke one of my parents' picture frames. I was so nervous about it. I was like, oh, so anxious. Like as a kid, I was already super anxious. But this was just like, oh, wow, that was over. So I tried to hide it, tried to keep it away from them. But in doing this, it actually brought up a lot of shame and guilt in me. And I tried to hide from my parents. I wouldn't talk to them at the dinner table. I would try to avoid them, all that kind of thing, right? And so it really put up a wall in our relationship. Ultimately, when I did admit it, they ended up just forgiving me. I was like, what? How did that happen? Like at eight years old, I was like, whoa, this is crazy. I'm so glad that I'm forgiven because all this like shame and guilt has kind of been released. But it reminds me of our relationship with God, right? Because when we have these like guilt, we have this guilt, right? This unconfessed sin, it puts up a wall between us and God. Often people let shame draw them away from God. And I just think that's so sad because what God actually wants to do with our sin is he wants to forgive it. He wants to bring us back to himself. Like he's like, draw near to me and I will draw near to you. Confess your sin and you will be forgiven. And so just evaluate in your life, hey, have I been confessing my sin? It's not like, you know, as a Christian, I just want to clarify this, right? At the moment of conversion, this idea of justification, you are being made right with God. When you repent, trust in Jesus, you're made right with God, right? So this idea, it's not like you need to confess every sin and then that's when Jesus forgives it. And if you didn't confess that sin, then that would be unpaid for sin. You go to hell. No, no, no. Confessing your sin is actually a lot for us too. It's like, hey, I wanted to confess. I want to keep everything in the open. And so confess it to God, show yourself to be humble and he will forgive you. And it'll restore that relationship, tear down that wall that's preventing you from going deeper in relationship with God. John 1 9 says, if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. So the sixth thing that hinders our relationship with God or our spiritual growth is isolation and disconnection from community. And this year, man, what a year for isolation and disconnection from community. I've been feeling this for a long time. We're still locked down in Winnipeg where I live. It's wild. We're not allowed to church. We're not allowed to like, at least at the time of making this video, probably when I release it too, we're not technically allowed to socialize with anybody outside of our household. And it's so difficult. It's so challenging. And so if you're in the same situation as me, like I get it, right? Like this is really challenging situation. Connect with people on Zoom. Connect with people on FaceTime over the phone. You know, they're pouring to the people that you live with, all that stuff. But if you have the opportunity to get out and be in community, please do that. I actually wrote a little journal entry last year that talks a little bit about this that I'd like to read for you. And it goes something like this. I want community where I can be real, authentic, be myself. Many of us long for that kind of intimate connection with a group of people. In our society of phone obsessed, social media preoccupied, individualistic and isolated people. The hope for something deeper is universal. I'm there too. Looking for an authentic community. One where I can be vulnerable and honest. Isolation is cold yet comfortable existence. Connection is life giving yet an intrusive lifestyle. I find myself putting up walls to avoid intimacy. The fear of rejection and being seen as weak or failure wrapped tightly around the things I try to share. What will they think of me if I admit this? Will they think I'm a failure if I admit that I'm not as far along as I want to be? Will they dismiss me as emotional or unreasonable? Will they see me as immature and thus my reputation be tainted? Community requires compassion. I need compassion. The people in my community need compassion. When we are compassionate to others, we tangibly reflect God's character. Some have an easier time extending compassion to others than they do themselves. We often hold ourselves to unrealistic expectations and standards as if we're still living under the law. When we fail to meet our expectations, we run from intimacy within community out of fear of being exposed. It's kind of the same thing that we do with God too. If we could be more compassionate with ourselves, how much that impact the way we treat others? If we can freely rest in God's grace for us, perhaps we can more freely point to that grace for others. Then vulnerability within community becomes less of wallowing in our failure, but rather baptizing others in grace through word and deed. I know it's challenging, especially in this time, but do not settle for disconnection. Do not settle for isolation. Be intentional with whatever people are in your life. Form those bonds. Don't let fear cast you outside of looking for that intimacy within community because you need that. That's going to be essential in your walk with Christ. The sixth thing that is hindering your spiritual growth is insecurities and fear in stepping into your calling. This is huge. Speaking from experience, this is something that has hindered my life tremendously. I was scared to admit to people that this is what I was passionate about. The daily disciple was my mission that I felt the Lord is leaning to pursue this because I thought they would honestly think that I was a loser or a failure or some sort of dreamer that had no sense of what is realistic or reasonable or responsible. Anytime somebody would ask me about what I was passionate about, I would always put this to the back burner, even though it was the thing that was most on my mind. I would try to hone into other things and that kind of thing because of my fear and insecurity. One day, it's been a process honestly, but it was like, you know what, I'm going to stop being so insecure and fearful even though I still face both those things. But at least in regard to how I talk about it with other people, no, I'm going to step into this. I'm going to say what actually I believe, which is that God has called me into this. I'm going to be firm in my calling and I'm going to try to work on that every day and give it to God and say, God, hey, you know what? I'm going to sacrifice my pride here. Even if it is hurting my pride a little bit, I might feel like people think less of me because I'm firmly stepping into this calling, but I care more about your opinion of me than I do about their opinion of me. And that's what it comes down to. It's like, if God has called you to something and I want to speak to you, like maybe you're at this point where like you kind of are feeling prompted towards something that maybe seems a little crazy. Believe me, I know crazy. I know like God, you know, he doesn't always deliver us into things that seem reasonable or responsible. Most of the time it's like, yo, God, this is wild. I don't know about this. It seems scary. How are you going to do this? I want you to step into that. Like if I'm the only person in your life that is saying, do that, then let me be the only person but say like, listen to me when I say, you have to do that. You have to for yourself, for God. I think of like, I can't exactly remember. I should know where this is from, but I always think about, you know, when the disciple, I can't remember who it is once again, but it's like, where else would I go, Lord? I just always think of that. It's like when God has given you your calling, you step into it because what else do you got? You know, if God is your protector, if he is your Lord, if he is your provider, right, then why would you want to go outside of that and do something else? So I think we got to be firm in our conviction. And of course, man, there's bad days. There's discouraging days. But ultimately, I think it's that community piece too, being surrounded by a community of people that can encourage you to step into your calling despite your insecurities, despite your fear and step into what God has called you into because this life is not long. That's what I'm realizing more and more every day. You know, I'm not that old. Most people laugh at me when I'm like, I'm feeling old. No, I'm not that old. But I get more and more of a sense that this life is short and if you're not spending, if you're not doing something that God wants you to do, then what are you doing? You know what I'm saying? So yeah, anyway, you got this. I'm praying for you that you step into your calling, that you cast away the insecurities of fear because that's hindering your spiritual growth. And the last thing is apathy towards knowing God more. It's not that we're lazy. This is something. It's not that we're lazy about not reading our Bible necessarily or praying or whatever. Most of the time when we're procrastinating or avoiding something that we actually kind of think that is good, but we just don't want to do it. It's because we have yet to develop a vision for that thing. It's like, okay, we know we're supposed to pray. We know we're supposed to read our Bible. We're supposed to know God more. But why? And when you start realizing, look, God has given himself for us that while we were sinners, Christ died for us that through soaking ourselves in His Word and what He's given us, we get to know Him more and thus walk more empowered in His Spirit in our daily lives. Wouldn't you want to learn about the king of the universe? Think about it. How would that impact your life if you had an intimate relationship with the sovereign God of the universe? How would that change your life and influence the way that you interact with people? So just begin to catch this vision. That's what I'm trying to preach here is like, okay, we have an apathy towards knowing God more but why? Because we have yet to catch a vision of the beauty and the glory and the connectedness, I don't know if that's a word, with God that we can experience when we are committed to learning more about Him and developing that relationship with Him. So it's like this, develop the vision, find the why of why you want to read your Bible, why you should. And then once you have that, that's what you can go back to when you're feeling discouraged, when you're feeling a little bit apathetic in the morning. I don't want to read the Bible, but then you're like, why is my why? What's my why? Oh, it's because I want to have that intimate relationship with Christ because I love Him so much because of the gospel, because He's created me, because, and you can keep going back and following this trail that can pull you out of your slumber, you know what I'm saying? And so that's what I would encourage you to do. That's something that I've done in my life and it's beneficial when you're continuing to form this vision of what it looks like when you continually, intentionally pursue a relationship with Christ. It's amazing. Well, that's it for today. Thank you so much to each of my patrons on Patreon. It has been amazing. There have been like 20 of you that have joined within the last couple of weeks, which is mind-blowing. It's so exciting. Exciting. Like, honestly, I didn't expect it, but this is kind of like the momentum that daily disciple really needs and God's just amazing coming through and providing and continuing to provide for those, you know, with those of you who continue to come through and support even now. So thank you so much. And if you want to help support my ministry, head on over to patreon.com slash daily underscore disciple and you can support on there. You can catch bonus episodes of sibling squabble. I hope you guys are enjoying that podcast, by the way. There'll be more episodes on YouTube soon. Thank you so much for watching, guys, and I hope you have a great day. God bless.