You’ve been a Christian for years, but your spirit is still a baby. And that’s not your fault.
Nobody ever taught you that your spirit can grow. Most pastors don’t even know this. Most Bible schools don’t teach it. Most Christians will die without ever discovering it.
There’s a part of you, your newborn spirit, that most believers never develop. It’s called the hidden man of the heart. And if you don’t build it, strengthen it, train it, you will live your entire Christian life spiritually weak.
There are six daily habits that build a strong spirit. Not theories. Not sermons. Habits. Things you can do today.
Let me show you what the church has been hiding from you. The Hidden Man of the Heart.
1 Peter 3: 4 says but “let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.”
The hidden man of the heart is your spirit. The part that was born again.
And here’s what most Christians don’t understand. This hidden man can be developed. The development of the human spirit is imperative.
We have wondered how this unseen, unknown personality could be developed. We know now.
Your spirit is a partaker of the divine nature. Your spirit can grow, just like your body grows stronger through exercise.
Your spirit grows stronger through spiritual habits. But most believers never develop their spirit. They live dominated by their physical senses.
Physical Sense knowledge versus spirit knowledge. Before Adam fell, his spirit ruled him. His senses were subject to his spirit. But when he sinned, everything flipped. His spirit became subordinated to his physical senses. Now he relied on what he could see, hear, feel, taste, and smell. His five physical senses took over, and his spirit became the prisoner.
Psalm 142:7 cries out, Bring my soul out of prison.
It was the cry of the soul for liberty. When you were born again, your spirit became a new creation. But your soul did not. Your body still wants to dominate. Your soul still wants to rule. Your feelings still want to control you.
And if you don’t train your spirit to take dominion, your soul will never be renewed. You will live like the old creation even though you’re a new creation. That’s why spiritual development is imperative.
HABIT 1- Walk in love daily. The first manifestation of the divine nature is love. Not emotional love. Agape love. God’s kind of love.
The first manifestation of that divine nature is the new kind of love. The development of this new creation is going to be by the nature of the Father taking him over.
You don’t develop your spirit by trying harder. You develop it by letting the Father’s nature take you over. How?
You begin to walk in love, live the love life, practice the Word, and fellowship with the Father. Practice the Word. Fellowship with the Father. This is a daily practice.
This is daily practice. Not weekly. Not when you feel spiritual. Daily. Think about it. You brush your teeth daily. You eat daily. You shower daily. Why? Because if you don’t, your body suffers.
The same is true for your spirit. If you don’t feed it daily, exercise it daily, develop it daily, it stays weak.
And a weak spirit cannot stand against the enemy. A weak spirit cannot walk in victory. A weak spirit cannot manifest the power of God.
When you make these habits daily, everything changes. Your spirit becomes strong. Your faith becomes unshakable. Your walk with God becomes powerful. And that’s what we’re going to build.
Starting with the first habit. Walking in love daily. Jesus’s Earth Walk was the perfect example. He didn’t just talk about love. He lived it daily.
The Father can unveil the Word to a person’s spirit so that it becomes a living thing in their daily walk. Love becomes their natural realm.
Do you see the key word? Daily. Your spirit is developed through daily habits. Daily walking in love. Daily living the Word.
1 John 4:7-8 says, 7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.
If you love, you know God. If you don’t love, you don’t know God. Love is evidence that your spirit is developing.
Habit 2, practice the word through action. Most believers read the Word but never practice it.
Believing is developed by acting on the Word. Faith is impaired to the born again spirit by the Word of God. Believing comes by acting on the Word. That is your exercise.
Every time you act upon the Word, believing becomes stronger. Just like muscles atrophy without use. Believing atrophies without action.
You can’t develop a strong spirit by going to church once a week. You develop a strong spirit by acting on the Word daily.
Every day you have opportunities. Someone needs help. You act on the Word and help them.
You’re facing a challenge. You act on the Word and stand in faith. The word says, Give, and it shall be given to you. So, you give.
The word says, Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven. So, you forgive. That’s practicing the word. That’s how your spirit develops. Meditate in the word daily.
Here’s the habit most Christians have abandoned: meditation in the word.
Faith is a product of your spirit. Believing is developed and wisdom is enriched by meditation in the word of God. Not just reading, not just studying. Meditation.
Reading is going through scriptures quickly. Studying is analyzing the scriptures. But meditation is dwelling on one scripture. You think about it. You chew on it. You let it sink deep into your spirit.
Joshua 1:8 says, thou shalt meditate therein day and night. Day and night. Not once a day. Day and night.
Take a scripture in the morning and think about it all day long. Psalm 1:2-3 says, “ But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper”.
When you meditate day and night, you bring forth fruit. But if you just read and never meditate, no fruit, no growth, no strength.
Let me show you what this looks like practically. When someone cuts you off in traffic, instead of getting angry, you speak a blessing over them. That’s practicing the word.
When someone at work takes credit for your idea, instead of exposing them, you walk in love. That’s acting on the word.
When your spouse says something hurtful, instead of retaliating, you choose forgiveness. That’s living the word.
Every single one of these moments is an opportunity to exercise your spirit.
And every time you act on the Word, instead of reacting from your flesh, your spirit gets stronger.
Believing must be continually exercised to develop it continually.
That means you’re looking for opportunities every day. This isn’t theory. This is your training ground.
Every day, you’re either strengthening your spirit or weakening it. The choice is yours. Here’s how to do it.
Take Ephesians 1: 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings. Don’t just read it and move on. Meditate on it. Think about blessed. Think about it.
Think about in heavenly places in Christ. Let that truth sink into your spirit. Dwell on it. Let it become real.
And as you meditate, faith in your spirit grows stronger, doubt in your mind leaves, your spirit grows stronger.
Build righteousness, consciousness. You cannot develop a strong spirit while living in sin consciousness.
A believer remains a prisoner of sin- consciousness until being the righteousness of God, a legal fact becomes a living reality in your spirit.
There can be no development of faith if sin consciousness dominates.
Most Christians are dominated by sin consciousness. They wake up thinking about failures. They condemn themselves all day. They feel unworthy at night.
The church, instead of destroying sin consciousness with the truth, has developed sin consciousness by preaching sin.
The church has been developing sin consciousness instead of destroying it.
But 2 Corinthians 5: 21 says, for he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
You are the righteousness of God in Christ. Not your righteousness, God’s righteousness. You must build righteousness-consciousness, into your spirit daily.
Every morning when you wake up, declare, I am the righteousness of God in Christ. Every time the enemy accuses you, declare, I am the righteousness of God in Christ. Every time you feel unworthy, declare, I am the righteousness of God in Christ.
Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus”. No condemnation. Not a little condemnation. None.
Stop meditating on your failures. Start meditating on your righteousness.
HABIT 5. Develop believing through daily action.
When one learns what produces faith, the kind of food and activities necessary to develop it, that person has arrived.
Faith is a product of your spirit. Faith is developed in two ways, through meditation in the word and through acting on the word.
Every time you act upon the word, faith becomes stronger. Every time. Not sometimes. Every time.
So, if you want strong faith, act on the word daily.
Most Christians skip this habit completely, and that’s why their faith is weak.
They read their Bible like they’re checking off a to-do list. Chapter 1, done. Chapter 2, done. Then they move on with their day. But they never meditate. They never let the word sink in. They never let it become real to their spirit. And then they wonder why nothing changes.
Meditation is the key to spiritual development. When you meditate on “Ephesians 1: 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”
All day long, something happens in your spirit. By the end of the day, you’re not just reading that you’re blessed with all spiritual blessings. You’re believing it. You’re living it. That’s the difference between head knowledge and spirit knowledge.
Head knowledge says, the Bible says I’m blessed. Spirit knowledge says, I am blessed. I have everything I need. Nothing is missing. And that only comes through meditation.
So tomorrow morning, pick one verse. Just one and think about it all day long. Watch what happens to your faith.
James 2:20 says, “Faith, if it hath not works, is dead”. Dead faith. That’s what most Christians have. They believe in the Word but never act on it.
Here’s the daily habit. Look for opportunities to act on the Word every single day.
The word says, Give, and it shall be given unto you. Today, give something.
The word says, Love your enemies. Today, show love to someone difficult.
The word says, “Pray for the sick”. Today, pray for someone who needs healing.
Every act of obedience strengthens your faith. Every time you step out on the word, your spirit grows.
HABIT 6- Fellowship with the Father constantly. Begins to walk in love, live the love life, practice the word, and fellowship with the Father.
Fellowship with the Father is not a once-a-day prayer time. It’s constant communion.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Pray without ceasing”. Not pray once a day. Pray without ceasing.
Your spirit is in constant communication with the Father, talking to Him throughout the day, listening throughout the day, walking with Him throughout the day.
If one could learn to listen to their born-again spirit and keep in intimate fellowship with the Father, there is no limit to where they can go in spiritual things. No limit. But it requires intimate fellowship. Daily, constant, unbroken.
The Holy Spirit was given to guide us into all truth. He finds it difficult to lead our reasoning faculties, but it is normal and natural for Him to lead our spirits.
The Holy Spirit can’t lead your mind easily. Your mind analyzes, questions, doubts. But He can lead your spirit naturally. Because your spirit has the nature of God, is in communion with Him.
So, the daily habit is, learn to listen to your spirit instead of your physical senses. When your senses say one thing and your spirit says another, listen to your spirit.
When your mind says one thing and your spirit says another, Listen to your spirit. That’s fellowship with the Father. That’s how your spirit grows strong.
Activation Steps. Let me give you the practical activation steps. Daily habits you can start applying today. Declare your righteousness every morning. Before you do anything, Declare, I am the righteousness of God in Christ. I am a new creation. Old things are passed away.
Here’s why this is so critical. If you’re dominated by sin-consciousness, you will never walk in the power of God. You’ll always feel unworthy. You’ll always feel disqualified. You’ll always feel like you need to do more to earn God’s approval.
But righteousness-consciousness, changes everything. When you wake up knowing you’re the righteousness of God, you don’t come to God begging. You come boldly.
Hebrews 3:16 says, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace. Boldly, not timidly. Not apologetically. Boldly. Why?
Because you’re righteous. Not because of what you did, but because of what Jesus did.
And when you stand on that righteousness, your prayers change. Your faith changes. Your entire walk with God changes.
You stop begging and start believing.
You stop doubting and start declaring.
You stop living beneath your privileges and start walking in your authority.
But it starts with destroying sin-consciousness and building righteousness-consciousness. And that’s a daily habit.
Every morning, every accusation, every moment of condemnation, you declare. I am the righteousness of God in Christ.
Step 2- Take one scripture and meditate on it all day. Don’t read 10 chapters.
Take one verse and think about it constantly. Let it become real to you.
Step 3- Act on the Word in every situation. Every decision, ask, what does the Word say? Then act on it. That’s how faith grows.
Step 4- Practice love in every interaction. Every person you encounter is an opportunity to practice love.
The rude cashier, the difficult co-worker, the offensive family member. Practice love.
Step 5- Maintain constant fellowship with the Father. Throughout the day, talk to Him. Listen to your spirit. Let the Holy Spirit guide you. Not just morning and night. All day long.
Let me tell you why these five habits will transform your life.
Most Christians are trying to live the Christian life in their own strength. They’re trying to be good people. They’re trying to obey God. They’re trying to have faith. and they’re exhausted. Why?
Because they’re operating out of their flesh instead of their spirit. But when you develop your spirit through these daily habits, everything becomes natural.
Love flows naturally. Faith rises naturally. Obedience becomes natural. Why?
Because your spirit is strong. And your spirit has the nature of God.
As this is cultivated and developed through the word, there is no limit to its possibilities. No limit. Think about that.
Your spirit, when properly developed, has no limit to what it can do. You can walk in love like Jesus walked in love. You can operate in faith like Jesus operated in faith. You can manifest the power of God like Jesus manifested the power of God. Why?
Because you have the same spirit, the same nature, the same word.
The only difference between you and Jesus is that Jesus’ spirit was fully developed, and yours can be too.
Starting today, through these six daily habits, walk in love daily. Practice the word daily. Meditate daily. Build righteousness-consciousness daily. Develop faith through action daily. Fellowship with the Father daily.
Do this for 30 days. And you won’t recognize yourself. Your spirit will be strong. Your faith will be unshakable. Your walk with God will be powerful. That’s the promise of having a strong spirit.
Your spirit can be developed. Most Christians live their entire lives as spiritual infants because they never develop their spirit.
They let their physical senses rule, their mind dominate, their emotions control them.
But you don’t have to live like that anymore.
The development of the born-again spirit is imperative. Not optional. Imperative.
The way you develop your spirit is through daily habits. Walk in love daily. Practice the word daily. Meditate in the Word daily. Build righteousness-consciousness daily. Develop faith through action daily. Fellowship with the Father daily.
The question is, Will you develop your spirit?