Why does it take so long for us to grow into spiritual maturity?
Richard Sibbes addresses that question in his book Glorious Freedom. Sibbes (1577–1635) was a leading English Puritan preacher and theologian, known for a compassionate, Christ-centered ministry that earned him the nickname “honey-tongued.” Born in Suffolk and educated at Cambridge, he served in London congregations like St. Antholin’s and Holy Trinity, emphasizing Christ’s sufficiency, inward renewal, and pastoral tenderness. His works—including The Bruised Reed and The Doctrine of Repentance—have deeply shaped later Puritan and evangelical theology and devotional life.
Sibbes offers steady encouragement: “Let no one in whom grace has begun be discouraged. God will go on with his grace.” Grace often begins in seed form and grows over time. That means we must be willing to grow slowly, because “progress is gradual in the new creature.”
He speaks directly to the discouragement many of us feel:
Let those who are growing not be discouraged with their little beginnings. It is God’s way in this world to bring his children by little and little, through many stations. It is one part of a Christian’s meekness to be subject to God’s wisdom in this respect, and not to complain that they are not as perfect as they would like to be or as they shall be.
In fact, even small changes are reasons for hope:
Christians should magnify the mercy of God that there is any change in such defiled and polluted souls;… that God has granted any beginnings. Magnify his mercy, rather than quarrel with his dispensation, that he does not do this all at once.
One of Sibbes’s most surprising and most strengthening insights is this: “God sometimes works by contraries. He makes men grow by their decreasing, and to stand by their falls.”
When we fall, the Lord often uses it to deepen us. We learn to hate sin more, to watch our hearts more carefully, to treasure God’s pardoning mercy more dearly, and to walk more humbly. As Sibbes observes, “No one grows so much as those who had their growth stopped for a time.”
He closes with the kind of reassurance weary believers need: “Let no one be too discouraged who finds a stop.... I would not have anyone discouraged. God will go through the work he has begun and will turn everything to good.”
Sibbes leaves us with this comfort: God usually grows us slowly, not because he is absent, but because he is wise and patient. We don’t need to despise small beginnings or complain that change isn’t instant. Even our stumbles can become means of growth—teaching us to hate sin more, cling to Christ’s mercy, and walk more humbly. So we keep going with hope: the God who began his work in us will finish it and will turn even setbacks to our good.
So take heart in small steps. Look for simple signs of grace—quicker repentance, a softer conscience, a growing desire for God—and thank him for them. When progress feels slow, keep showing up in the ordinary means of grace: Scripture, prayer, worship, and humble obedience. And when you stumble, don’t spiral; confess, receive Christ’s pardon, learn what the fall exposes, and keep walking, trusting God to finish what he started.