Grow as You Go: 3 Steps to Actively Walk Worthy in Christ

“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” 
Colossians 1: 9-10

You’ve accepted Christ as your personal Savior, and you’re pumped!

You’ve been saved. But now what?

This Is Just the Beginning.

Today, we’re going to put a magnifying glass on Colossians 1:9-10 as Paul outlines the steps on how we as Christians are to walk worthy in Christ. 

Think of how Indiana Jones is always on an epic quest to seeking after treasures in the depths of the world. Every time, he successfully attains these treasures, but usually, that’s just the beginning of the adventure.

The good news is the gospel doesn’t just stop at salvation.

Salvation is the starting point; walking worthy in Christ is the journey. 

The power of the gospel helps us actively grow our faith by walking worthy in Christ. Just like exercise strengthens us physically, walking worthy involves stretching and strengthening our faith muscles. 

Diving back into the first chapter of Colossians, Paul shows us what steps we can actively follow to walk worthy in Christ. When we accept Christ, the journey does not end there; we must continue to live our life as if we are in the very presence of Christ. 

Look at it this way. We as humans have a tendency to jump right into something and get engrossed and consumed by our hobbies and interests and entertainment. 

That new TV series or movie comes out, and we’re hooked. We tell convince our friends to watch it. We memorize the cast listing on IMDB and stalk the celebrity social media. Sometimes we even buy the coordinating swag to show off our fandom.

But as the years go by, and the TV show series ends, the movie sequels stop, and maybe with it, your enthusiasm fades. You’re still a diehard fan willing to explain all plot twists and rattle off character quotes that you’ve memorized. But the themed t-shirts start to fade, the hype dies down, and you stop witnessing to others to convince them to watch the series that isn’t so new or so hot. We stop watching the TV show when the plot gets boring or too predictable or they kill off our favorite character.

Same with hobbies. We buy all the equipment, we set aside the time. But as soon as the hobby becomes difficult, or hard, or seemingly insurmountable, we tend to quit.

The transformative power of the gospel isn’t a hot new TV series that we settle into on a Saturday night or a weekend hobby where we show up on Sundays to actively pursue.

The fire and hype from your conversion help stir your enthusiasm and passion to jump into your relationship with Christ. But if you don’t take the proper steps to maintain your relationship, your newfound energy and hype can fizzle out when things get hard.

After your conversion stage settles down, you launch into a new season of maturing and growing and forming routine and spiritual disciplines to help your walk with Christ. 

Walking worthy is a call to the believer to live in a way that is consistent with his identification. 

So what are the steps to walking worthy according to Paul? 

Step 1: Grow in Wisdom 

As we zoom in on these key phrases in this verse, we see that Paul prays for the church of Colossae that they would “grow in all wisdom and understanding.” He prays for them, specifically that they will be filled with spiritual wisdom and understanding. 

Spiritual wisdom, very simply, is the ability to accumulate and organize principles from Scripture. 

If the Christian life is a journey, we need spiritual wisdom to act as the navigation system in our lives.

The Bible describes in Deuteronomy 34:9 Joshua, a great leader of Israel during their transition from wilderness wanderers to Promised Land conquerors, is described as having the spirit of wisdom. Joshua was only able to take on the mantle of leadership that Moses passed onto him because the Lord filled him with spiritual wisdom to accomplish the task at hand. For Joshua, observing how Moses lead the stiff-necked people of Israel gave him insight on how to rely on God’s leading and direction and rely on God’s power to sustain. Growing in spiritual wisdom involves studying and observing principles for fruitful living. 

Step 2: Grow in Understanding 

While spiritual wisdom is a necessity, it doesn’t do us any good to grow in wisdom if we don’t apply it. Paul also prayed that the Colossians would be filled with understanding as well. That’s where understanding the Word of God comes into play. 

Understanding is the application of biblical principles to daily living. It’s the compass that directs our everyday lives. 

Some key foundational principles that help us understand who we were and how Christ transformed our life: 

• You were once a rebel—Romans 1:28-32 helps us understand where we come from, as we originally were rejecting, rebelling, and refusing God’s goodness, living in direct opposition to Him.

• You were saved from death—When we grasp the concept that we were saved from our own sinful self-destruction, we are compelled not to return to behaviors and attitudes that might destroy our walk with Christ. (Romans 5:8).

• The actions of Christ’s death on the cross saved you—Because our sins sent Christ to the cross, we must be willing to reject our old patterns and behaviors of living that Christ’s life-saving work and keep us from experiencing His glory. (Colossians 1:9-10).

• The gospel is not a nice story for people who want a little more religion; it’s a transformative lifestyle. We must understand that we are obligated to surrender every part of our lives in order to reflect Christ and His glory (Luke 9:23).

Having spiritual wisdom is coupled with understanding, an understanding of who you are and what Christ is shaping your life to be. 

Step 3: Grow in Knowledge

The last essential for a Christian to walk worthy in Christ is to grow in the knowledge of Christ.

The idea of “increasing in knowledge” indicates that continual action takes place. 

Knowledge forms the stability in your walk with Christ, but it takes active investment in studying the Word. That’s why the study of theology is essential for orthopraxy, or the correct ethical behavior for the Christian. Sound theology tethers us to the heart of God which ultimately directs us to understand how He wants us to live out our lives.

But where do we start in increasing our knowledge?

We start by learning Who God is and who He’s calling us to be. 

Both the Old Testament and the New Testament affirm that God is Holy, as Leviticus 11:45 and 1 Peter 1:16 straight up challenges us to “be holy as I am holy.” These verses call for us to accept Christ’s holy work on the cross, allow this holiness to actively transform our lives, and once again, to lead our lives to be a holy reflection of the glory of God. 

When we are firmly rooted in the knowledge that our only aim in life is to please Christ, everything else in life starts making sense.

Things—like being the most popular person at work or school—don’t bother you as much anymore because these concepts don’t bother God. Things that didn’t bother you before—like gossiping or subtle sins that sneak into your life—start bothering you now because you are more fully aware that they matter to God.

Your life takes on a different direction toward God’s holiness and active pursuit of His presence. 

Step 3: Grow in His Presence

Founding Father of the faith, Martin Luther said it best when he came up with the statement CORAM DEO. This Latin term basically sums up how we are to conduct our entire life, stating we are to live our entire life in the presence of God, under the authority of God, to reflect the glory of God. 

At the end of the day, walking worthy isn’t a list of do’s and don’ts. It means our heart focuses on living out a life that is fully pleasing to Him. So we need to stop trying to impress the world. We need to stop trying to be something you’re not, and just live to please the one Who created us. 

Live, act, and glorify—these three steps help us to walk faithfully with a very faithful God!

P.S. Life gets a little tricky, and sometimes you don’t know exactly how to practically walk a worthy lifestyle.
Hop on over to the podcast for more specific challenges that you might face with your walk with Christ.
We’re super into tackling those tough enigmas that might keep you up at night!