Growing closer to God is not a one-time event. Instead, it is an ongoing process. As a follower of Christ, there are many things you can do to cultivate a deeper relationship with Him. One step is to remove a few unhelpful things from your life. Removing these things will benefit your overall spiritual walk and growth.
Here are six things you should remove from your life to grow closer to God.
1. Stress
One of the best things to remove from your life to grow closer to God is stress. While not all stress is unavoidable, you can avoid much of it on a daily basis. Instead of dwelling or ruminating on problems, give them over to God (1 Peter 5:7). Part of surrendering your life to God includes surrendering all your worries, fears, and stress. Constantly carrying around stress with you will impair your walk with God.
What is causing you the most stress right now? Perhaps a new job, a layoff, or a family situation. Choose to pray over the matter but leave the rest in God’s hands. Trying to take matters into your own hands will only leave you feeling drained, weak, and weary. Trust God with the stress in your life; ask Him to remove it, and take hold of His indescribable peace (Philippians 4:6-7).
2. Fretting
Jesus tells us, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:26-27). Constantly worrying will cause you to doubt God.
Stop the cycle today by trusting in God. God is the One who sent His one and only Son to die for your sins (John 3:16-17; Romans 5:8). Since you trust Him with your salvation, trust Him with all your worries. Fretting over every matter will impair your walk with Him. Remove fretting from your life, and you will grow closer to God.
When fretting rises in your heart, hand it over to Jesus. Tell Him, “Lord, I cannot carry this on my own. I am so overwhelmed to the point of tears. Please support me with Your love, grace, and steadfast peace. In Your Name, I pray, Amen.” Trust in God; your trust will be rewarded.
3. Gossiping
Gossiping will keep you away from growing closer to God. The Bible says, “A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends” (Proverbs 16:28). Gossiping will separate you from God. Resist the temptation to gossip and replace it with the choice to build others up (1 Thessalonians 5:11). It may be challenging at first, but with God’s help, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).
4. Bad Influences
What are your friends like? Are they leading you after God or away from Him? Answering this question can help you to know whether you should remain friends with them or not. It is unwise to remain friends with anyone who promotes sin or lives an unholy lifestyle.
As Paul says, “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character’” (1 Corinthians 15:33). Spending time with bad influences will cause you to drift further away from God. This is not what you want; therefore, make it a priority to remove any bad influences from your life. Make friends with those who love the Lord, encourage you to faithfully walk with Him, and pray for you. Refrain from spending time with those who will tear you down.
5. Excessive Time Online
Sadly, it has become incredibly common to spend excessive amounts of time online. Spending time online only wastes time. Challenge yourself to replace this time with prayer and Bible reading. Removing social media, online chatrooms, and mindless scrolling will massively benefit your life. It will help you draw closer to God and deepen your relationship with Him.
While there is nothing wrong with going online, it becomes a problem if that is all that you are doing. Take a serious look at your screen time and see how long you are spending online. It is one thing to be online for work, and it is another to simply scroll aimlessly online. Removing excessive time online will clear up more time to spend with God and increase your spiritual growth.
6. Negative Habits
What negative habits are you currently facing today? Perhaps you are struggling with jealousy, lying, or hatred? Abandon these negative habits and replace them with love. As Peter says, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8).
Removing negative habits from your life will free up more time with God. Eliminating these things will also help you to come before the Lord with a sincere and confident heart. Sin causes you to hide from God, yet living a life of repentance causes you to run to Him. Cast off any negative habits and replace them with the love of God. This will help you grow closer to God, enhance your spiritual maturity, and improve your walk with Christ.
There are many things you should remove from your life to help you grow closer to God. A few of these things include stress, fretting, gossiping, bad influences, excessive time online, and negative habits. Removing these unhelpful things will help you grow closer to God in your daily life.
