Spiritual weakness is an inability to satisfy the LORD due to inadequate spiritual strength and a status of spiritual immaturity. It’s a serious cause for concern because Christians going through spiritual weakness are not active sinners and they are eager to move out of the poor status because they understand the consequences.
Today’s sermon will explain the cause and the best ways for you to overcome spiritual weakness.
6 Causes of Spiritual Weakness
1. Lost Focus in Jesus Christ
Any Christian who gives too much attention to their pastors than to the Almighty GOD will lose focus on the genuine teachings of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was aware of this danger and that is the reason He discouraged His disciples from referring to any man as a spiritual father and He made it clear that the only Spiritual Father we have is GOD.
2. Distractions by Things of the World
The world is overloaded with many features which can blindfold you easily. For instance; wealth, science and technology, social enjoyment etc.
3. Obeying Cultures that Contradicts Holiness
It is unfortunate that the church of our generation had mingled with the world. Many church leaders allowed worldly culture thinking that will make the church to be full…
4. Lack of Spiritual Nutrient
It is a dangerous act to miss the reading and meditation on the Word of God every day!
5. Miscommunication between you and the LORD
It is easy to disobey the voice of the Holy Spirit because God’s will for you always contradicts most of your wishes.
6. Over-Estimating your Spiritual Status
Your spiritual strength has nothing to do with your age or the number of years you’d spent in the Christian fold. Servants of GOD can lose spiritual strength through the uncontrollable pride that approaches the ceremonial awards presented to them.
The teachings of Jesus Christ do not support the presentation of awards to Christians when on earth because our rewards are in heaven. Presentation of awards is a worldly practice that was adopted into the Christendom and it is destructive to our spiritual status with the LORD.
5 Types of Spiritual Weakness
1. Unstable Faith
2. Inability to exhibit spiritual gifts
3. Retarded spiritual growth
4. Non-transformation; No distinction between you and unbelievers
5. Pride
7 Signs of Spiritual Weakness
1. Procrastination of doing the right things
2. Love for things of this world
3. Blind argument to justify your undisciplined status
4. Unreadiness to let go some characters
5. Private Prayer time is diminishing very fast
6. No more active Personal Bible study
7. Less resistance to temptation and expecting Jesus to do it for you.
10 Steps to Overcome Spiritual Weakness
1. Don’t reach a conclusion that there are some sins you cannot stop!
2. It is vital you increase your prayer time. I asked for spiritual strength and I was empowered steadily.
3. Stay away from societal culture and church doctrines that cannot be found in the teachings of Jesus Christ.
4. Always share the Good News of Jesus Christ online and offline and your spiritual strength will be restored.
5. You can overcome spiritual weakness if you abandon all books except the Holy Bible which is the only roadmap for a successful spiritual journey.
6. You’ll get spiritual power during consistent praise and worship, so don’t miss personal fellowship with the LORD every day.
7. Don’t take temptation for granted when it comes. Expect it every day but don’t give the evil suggestions a second thought rather squeeze it into the trash with the word of God.
8. Give everything about your heart to Jesus Christ.
Jesus says: “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.” (Matthew 10:37)
9. Spiritual weakness is as a result of spiritual indiscipline, so you have to be a disciplined Soldier of Christ.
10. Check and Balance yourself every night before going to bed.
Jesus says: “Therefore, you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Matthew 24:44)
The risk involved in staying too long in spiritual weakness is terrific. It leads to spiritual stunted growth, lukewarm and backsliding. I was once a weak Christians but when I followed the steps above the LORD made me stronger in His Holiness.
You cannot be spiritually strong by your intellectuals or by the church doctrines. You must be disciplined and consistent in personal relationship with the LORD – that’s the secret of your victory!
Dear Marlon,
My sincere apology for the late response to your comment.
Full expression about what I mean by:
1. Lost Focus in Jesus Christ
When you concentrate to spiritual fathers and read too many books of diverse faiths, you can lose direction of holiness.
Explanation: It is a popular practice that new converts are convinced to see their Pastor as second-in-command to God. Infact, many Pastors draw the attention of their members to themselves rather than to the LORD. So, any Christian who gives too much attention to their pastors than to the Almighty GOD will lose focus on the genuine teachings of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was aware of this danger and that is the reason He discouraged His disciples from referring to any man as a spiritual father and He made it clear that the only Spiritual Father we have is GOD.
Reading books of different authors who have diverse opinions about spiritual topics can confuse a Christian. So, Christians struggling with spiritual strength should mainly focus on reading the Bible only. For instance I have read many books about topics like; Holy Spirit, Healing, Holy Trinity, Hell etc. which are diverse in teachings and nearly threw me off balance. But, thank God I tested the messages I read from the books with the Bible and threw them away when I noticed that many authors are just interested in selling books or stand as false teachers spreading misleading messages.
2. “If you are carried away by the church awards and fatherly names given to you then you might be heading towards a crash…”
Explanation: Servants of GOD can lose spiritual strength through the uncontrollable pride that approaches presentation of awards. The teachings of Jesus Christ do not support the presentation of awards to Christians when on earth because our rewards are in heaven. Presentation of awards is a worldly practice that was adopted into the Christian folds and it is destructive to our spiritual status with the LORD.
…fatherly names… means the different hierarchical positions in the church the church members call their “father in the Lord” e.g Bishop, Pope, Junior Pastor, Senior Pastor….
Please remember I said referring to anyone as father in the Lord is against the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Sincerely, I noticed that many servants of God who love to be called with big names in the church later on fall into pride and lose their spiritual strength.
Finally, I sincerely appreciate your questions and I promise to edit some sentences on the blog for easy understanding and take away ambiguity.
Thank you for your comment.
God Bless you.
Good day Ekundayo! Greetings in the holy name of The Lord Jesus.
These are truthful teachings you made about the the topic. However, I would like if you can explain in the subtitle 6 Causes of Spiritual Weak,Lost Focus in Jesus Christ the following phrase. the in point 6 the phrase:
“When you concentrate to spiritual fathers”:
you are carried away by the church awards and fatherly names given to you”
Evangelist Ekundayo, Thank you for these words to treasure and apply to our daily lives! You are going to help me share these words with others who are faltering on their spiritual journey!
Stephen, I appreciate your comment. There is high level of leadership failures in our generation and it was not accidentally, it was devil’s strategy to mislead many people to hell. The Solution is everyone should concentrate on Jesus Christ and not on leaders. How? By studying our Bible everyday and obeying the instructions of Jesus Christ. Following the counsel of the Holy Spirit daily is the phenomenal that can keep us hot in holiness.
Glory be to God for such a wonderful great message, most people begin when the fire for the ministry is burning, but due to bad leadership some members get demoralised & spiritual activeness starts detoriarating.
May God help the leaders to stir up the fire in people.
May God bless you.
Charity, thanks for your sharing your truthful observations. The solution is that every individual Christian should study the Word of Jesus Christ in the Bible everyday, Obey His teachings and share the Gospel to everyone.
I am sorry to say that church doctrines and practices in many churches distract people from the true Christian spiritual life. Church politics and love of money is a terrible crises that invite demonic spirits to church.
Since there is no church denomination in heaven, stay away from church that doesn’t help your spiritual life. Once you evangelize with someone with the name of Jesus you are already in church, so don’t be deceived by false pastors who insist you must come to their church building before you can serve God.
May the Spirit of the LORD continue to guide us right in this end time era we are in Jesus name.
Am afraid and more worried.am an Evangelical church member( born again Christian).
Now, through my question I have asked about ‘weakness ‘ about 95% of types and signs of weaknesses are observed from leadership to membership.
1.the church doesn’t grow
2.most the spiritual gifts are not practiced.
3.the Spirit of God is not embraced or acknowledged to be the center of all spiritual ministries.
4.people in church they don’t stay.
5.most the members are Sunday worshippers only.
I hope to share this to one or two.
Thank you, from ZAMBIA
Good to hear from you Sr Jane. Yes, pls go ahead and share the message to as many brethren as possible. Thank you and God bless you in Jesus name
Very wonderful teaching.thanks and God bless you.permision please to share with brethren in my local church.