Four Essential Things You Must Quit to Grow Closer to God and Strengthen Your Faith
To grow closer to God, you must quit four key habits: secret sins, worrying about others' opinions, complaining, and distractions. Confessing secret sins brings freedom, seeking God's approval over people's acceptance leads to true worth, speaking positively aligns with God's creative power, and eliminating distractions allows deeper connection with God through prayer and reflection.
Growing closer to God is a journey that requires intentional effort and self-reflection. There are certain habits and mindsets that can hinder your spiritual growth and distance you from a deeper relationship with God. This article explores four crucial things you must quit to nurture your faith and draw nearer to God.
1. Quit Your Secret Sin
Everyone has a secret sin—something hidden that you try to cover up or hide from others. It could be lust, smoking, drinking, gluttony, or any behavior you think you have under control. However, the truth is that if you cannot let go of this sin, it already controls you.
You might believe you are managing it, but continuing to engage in it means it has a hold on you. The path to freedom begins with confession—not only to God but also to trusted people in your life. The Bible teaches that what you do in the dark will come to light, but what you confess, Jesus will cover.
Stop hiding your "dirty laundry" from the only one who can cleanse you completely. Come clean before God, and experience the liberation that comes from honesty and repentance.
2. Quit Worrying About What People Think
Living for others' acceptance can keep you far from God. When you seek validation from people, you risk dying from their rejection. The only opinion that truly matters is God's opinion of you.
Jesus was perfect, yet many people hated Him so much that they crucified Him. If the world rejected Jesus, the perfect man, why seek approval from the same world?
God's approval is worth more than all the applause from the world. Jesus said, "If you deny me before people on earth, I will deny you before my Father in heaven." It is better to be rejected by people on earth and accepted by Jesus in heaven than the opposite.
Trying to prove your worth to others is the first step to forgetting your true worth in God's eyes.
3. Quit Complaining and Speaking Negatively
Your words carry immense power. Complaining and speaking negatively can be a form of cursing yourself. The devil plants negative thoughts in your mind, such as "My life sucks," or "God forgot about me." When you speak these words, you are essentially pulling the trigger on your own well-being.
Interestingly, the word "abracadabra" is an ancient Aramaic phrase meaning "I create as I speak." This is the same language Jesus spoke. God created the world by speaking it into existence. If God created the world with words, consider what worlds you are creating with your own words.
Choose to speak life, hope, and faith instead of negativity and despair.
4. Quit Distraction
Distraction might be the biggest obstacle to growing closer to God. In today's world, we are constantly distracted—eating while watching videos, driving while listening to music, showering with speakers on. We rarely take time to sit quietly and reflect.
