We have all had those seasons where our spiritual life feels like a car stuck in a muddy ditch. You are spinning your wheels, the engine is roaring, but you aren’t actually moving an inch. It is a common frustration to wonder why the initial “spark” of faith seems to settle into a dull routine of habits. We often find ourselves curiously asking: if I have a new heart, why does it still feel so heavy with the same old sins? In his classic work, How to Grow in Grace, the nineteenth-century pastor Archibald Alexander provides a bracing reality check. He suggests that we often misunderstand what growth looks like, expecting a microwave dinner when God is actually preparing a slow-cooked feast.
The Stunted Child and the Proof of Life
Alexander starts by laying down a non-negotiable rule: if something is alive, it must grow. He uses the simple image of a child to show that while some start out weak and others strong, the one thing they must do is develop. He warns that people who claim to follow Christ but never seem to change—or even start to slide backward—might just be “dead formalists.” They have a label that says “life,” but there is no heartbeat.
This is a powerful reflection for anyone who has settled into a spiritual rut. It reminds us that “staying the same” is not an option in the kingdom of God. If we want to enjoy the comfort of our faith or be of any use to the people around us, we have to be in what Alexander calls a “thriving condition.” Growth is the evidence that the Holy Spirit is actually at work in us.
“A healthy state of piety is always a growing state; that child which grows not at all must be sickly. If we would enjoy spiritual comfort, we must be in a thriving condition.”
Why Seeing More Dirt is a Sign of More Light
One of the most impactful insights in the book is how Alexander explains the discouragement we feel as we see more of our own sin. He argues that growing Christians often feel like they are becoming more wicked. He compares this to a person sitting in a dark, dirty room. If a single ray of light comes through the window, you only see the big pieces of furniture. But as the sun rises and the room gets brighter, you start to see the dust, the cobwebs, and the filth in the corners.
This analysis is incredibly encouraging. If you feel more sinful today than you did a year ago, it might not be because you are failing. It is likely because you have more spiritual light. You are seeing the “filth” that was already there but was previously hidden by your own ignorance. This increased knowledge of your own heart is a sure evidence that you are actually growing in grace and becoming more like Jesus.
“His increased knowledge of the fact is a sure evidence of increasing light.”
The Trap of the “One Day” Resolution
Alexander points out a very relatable habit that keeps us from moving forward: we make general promises to be “better” without ever getting specific. We resolve that in some “indefinite future” we will reform our lives, but we end every day without having made a single distinct advance. It is like a man who talks constantly about going on a trip but never actually packs a bag or puts a foot out the door.
To grow, we have to stop dealing with our hearts in the abstract and start dealing with them in detail. If we are cold in our love for God, we have to specifically meditate on His love for us. If we are prideful, we have to target that specific root. Growth happens when we aim for a particular improvement every single day, rather than just hoping that a “general piety” will somehow happen to us over time.
Faith Runs on Free Grace, Not Feelings
Finally, Alexander warns us against the danger of depending on “joyful frames” or emotional highs. He notes that young converts especially love the excitement, but God often lets them “walk in darkness” for a while to cure them of this. It forces them to stop relying on their own feelings and start relying on the unchangeable promises of God.
The only real “food” that makes the soul grow is the doctrine of free grace. When we try to mix our own efforts or our own “merit” into the equation, we become lean and feeble. Alexander insists that we must be “identified with Christ”—living by Him through faith alone. Until we stop trying to earn our keep and start resting in His finished work, our spiritual growth will always be stunted by our own self-dependence.
“Christians cannot but be lean and feeble when deprived of their proper nutriment. It is by faith that the spiritual life is made to grow; and the doctrine of free grace, without any mixture of human merit, is the only true object of faith.”
Why You Should Read This Book
Archibald Alexander’s How to Grow in Grace is a book you should read because it is a masterclass in the “long game” of holiness. It successfully avoids the fluff of modern self-improvement and instead points you back to the deep, sturdy roots of the Reformed faith. You should seek out this work to be reminded that while your growth may be gradual and often invisible, it is being fueled by an almighty Spirit who will not leave His work unfinished. If you want to move past the “microwave” spirituality of our age and build a faith that can endure the rugged storms of life, Alexander is the guide you need.