They’re stuck in perpetual spiritual infancy, remaining in diapers and booties. The reason is because they never intended to grow. Spiritual growth is not automatic; it takes an intentional commitment. You must want to grow, decide to grow, make an effort to grow, and persist in growing.

Discipleship is the process of becoming like Christ, and it always begins with a decision: “‘Follow me and be my disciple,’ Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him” (Matthew 9:9 NLT).

When the first disciples chose to follow Jesus, they didn’t understand all the implications of their decision. They simply responded to Jesus’ invitation.

That’s all you need to get started: Decide to become a disciple.

· We are slow learners. We often have to relearn a lesson 40 or 50 times to really get it. The problems keep recurring, and we think, “Not again! I’ve already learned that!” But God knows better. The history of Israel illustrates how quickly we forget the lessons God teaches us and how soon we revert to our old patterns of behavior. We need repeated exposure.
· We have a lot to unlearn. Since most of our problems — and all of our bad habits — didn’t develop overnight, it’s unrealistic to expect them go away immediately. There is no pill, prayer, or principle that will instantly undo the damage of many years. It requires the hard work of removal and replacement. The Bible calls it “taking off the old self” and “putting on the new self” (Romans 13:12; Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:7-10, 14).
· Growth is often painful and scary. There is no growth without change, there is no change without fear or loss, and there is no loss without pain. Every change involves a loss of some kind. We fear these losses, even if our old ways were self-defeating, because, like a worn-out pair of shoes, they were at least comfortable and familiar.
· Good habits take time to develop. Remember that your character is the sum total of your habits. You can’t claim to be kind unless you are habitually kind. Your habits define your character.

There is only one way to develop the habits of Christlike character: You must practice them — and that takes time! There are no instant habits. Paul urged Timothy, “Practice these things. Devote your life to them so that everyone can see your progress” (1 Timothy 4:15 GW).

Jesus demands that we surrender all of our life to him. He doesn’t want a small portion of who you are. It’s like this — when you’re trying to climb out of a river that has a steep bank, you have to get a foothold on something to start the climb. And once you get the foothold, you can climb up the bank and walk all around.

Some of us, when we invited Jesus into our lives, simply gave him a foothold, but we’re resisting his efforts to step fully up onto the bank so he can fully access our lives. Jesus isn’t willing to stand there on that foothold. He wants you to give him all of your life.

You may think you’ve surrendered all of your life to him, but the truth is, you’re still hanging on to some parts of your life. Jesus isn’t upset with you. He simply wants to work with you to help you uncover areas that you still need to surrender to him.

There will be struggles and battles, but the outcome will never be in question. God has promised that “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6 NIV).