I will be the first to admit that I am an impatient person. I am always tapping my foot while I wait for the fruits of my labour to appear, I am always glancing at my watch to catch the exact moment when things in life begin to go the way I want them to. But, as more and more time passes, I begin to understand the flaws, or rather, the foolishness that accompanies my impatience. Because I am always too busy watching the time pass as I await the moment where things change, I fail to take the moment to really witness the process in which things are growing. I miss out on the details that make life so beautiful, and I can attribute this all to my ignorance in differences between the words “change” and growth”.
Change and growth: two words often used interchangeably when in reality, hold very different meanings. Change is described as “to make or become different”, “to take or use another instead of”, or “the act or instance of making or becoming different”. Growth, on the other hand, is defined as “the process of increasing in size” or “the process of developing”.
As you can see, there are a few distinct differences.
Change can be instantaneous
One may not expect these changes in their life when they occur. These could be negative, such as not getting into the school they were aiming for, or the sudden death of a loved one, but they can also be positive, such as a promotion, or doing well on a test they struggled with. Though it may affect one’s life, one may simply learn to adapt to the change, instead of really learning from or reflect on the event. Growth, rather, is a process. One can cut their hair, and in a moment their appearance is changed, but growing hair to a desired length is a process. With this in mind, it is evident that though change can provide immediate gratification, it may not give the same long term satisfaction that growth brings about. Furthermore, since growth is a process, it requires time. One cannot expect a seed to grow into a sunflower within minutes of planting it, just as they cannot expect to mature into the person they desire to be overnight.
Quite often, especially after a conference or a retreat, we feel so on fire for the Lord. We have made all these promises about never doubting Christ and His plan again, about going where He sends us, and of course, these are wonderful. But we must realize that these words in themselves are merely changes in our hearts. If we want the fire to continue to grow, or if we truly desire to go where God sends us, we must be prepared to begin the journey towards Him, and it will certainly not be easy. We must recognize that we will not be able to be the servants of Christ that we desire to be unless we are willing to be patient through the trials that we will encounter. We must, so to say, “trust the process”.
Change can, well, change
Yes, one can change their mindset one day, but if that is all that they do, and nothing else, then all things will stay as they were, or even, go backwards. However, growth requires far more work. It requires constant reminders of one’s end goal, a plan as to how to achieve said goal, support from within themself, and those around them, and accountability. Change may be external, as it can easily be influenced by peers, but growth is internal. One must have the desire to grow in order for maturation to take root. It requires careful nurturing, and long term commitment and effort.
To grow in faith is more than a choice, it is a commitment. Like with any commitment, there will be times where our faith in our mission will be tested, and it is crucial during these times to remember our end goal, which is to be walking hand in hand with Christ. It is in the moments of trial where we will really come to understand whether or not those “promises” we made when we were on our spiritual high are choices, or commitments to growth. Will we choose to nurture our faith, supplement it with goodness through prayers, positive influences, and conversations with Christ? Or will we waver at the opinions of society and our peers? In order to grow in faith, we must first honour our commitment to do so.
For myself, I had always had the desire to grow in faith, but I really didn’t have the drive to do anything about it. I would just hope that my desire would develop into faithfulness and into a strong relationship with Christ. So, although in prayer I made the choice to follow Christ and to go where He sent me, I never did anything to follow up this choice, and to actually make the commitment to grow. As a result, my relationship with Christ remained unchanged, and as you may have learned before, if your relationship with Christ isn’t moving forward, it’s moving backwards. This meant that I was actually worse off than I was previously and upon realizing this, I came to understand that something needed to change, and that was my lack of initiative. Slowly, I began to take on opportunities to share the faith with those who may not know Christ. I began to read more books to learn about our faith, and Church teachings, participate in the sacraments more frequently, and I simply began to talk to God throughout the day. Since then, I have seen growth not only in my faith life, but also in my relationships with other people and myself. Obviously, there were times where I would have preferred to watch something on Netflix instead of reading ‘Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic’, but in reminding myself of what I am striving for, it made these little decisions a whole lot easier.
Change likely happens all at once
Since change is often a one-off event, it likely occurs all at once. Like I said before, it does not leave much time for reflection and growth, but rather makes way for mindless adaptation. Often, there is nothing to follow up with that change, nothing to keep it accountable and to ensure that it remains. This is where growth is required. Growth is what keeps us accountable to the decisions we have made, but of course, this takes time. With growth being a process, there are bound to be times of accelerated growth, and moments that seem plateaued. This can be related to the development of a human. Babies grow exponentially in within the first six months of their lives, and then the growth rate slows down. Though their growth is less evident, there is no doubt that they are still growing.
The same can be applied to our faith life. We will experience times of very evident growth, perhaps around the time where we obtain a new service role, or following a conference or an event-dense month. It is during these times where we should establish positive habits such as creating a prayer schedule, or eliminating negative influences from social media or toxic friendships for it is much easier to enforce these actions during a spiritual high, as opposed to a low.
On the other hand, we will also go through times of “spiritual dryness”, times where we may not see any growth and our faith seems to be at a standstill. But, we must be patient with ourselves, and not grow jaded for even in these moments, we are growing. By simply choosing not to give up, and to continue to journey through the desert shows the immense growth that one has experienced because very likely, had this period of dryness occured closely following a period of mere change, it could easily sway us into reverting to our old habits and lifestyle, one that preceded our decision to follow Christ. The choice of continuing to pursue Christ shows commitment, hence showing growth as well!
It is evident that when it comes to our faith, change is not enough. God has created for much more than mediocrity. He has even given us numerous tools to aid us in living lives that are fruitful, and that glorify Him. Although it is good to have hearts that are changed, we are now being called to go the extra mile and ensure that this change matures into growth. In order to do so, we need be able to recognize that growth requires time, that it is a process, and that it requires a great commitment. But, indubitably, every ounce of effort to grow in intimacy with Christ is worth it for forms us into the daughters and sons of God that we were made to be.
Eleanor Wong – YCOM Photography Head | CFC-Youth Pacific Region
