At the Pace of Grace: There Are No Instant Saints

Blog by Alan Fadling

Welcome to a new year. It’s often a time when I make new intentions and revise my rhythms of life and work. What challenges are you finding in your own spiritual journey? Spiritual development just doesn’t happen fast, no matter what any online expert says.

Our journey toward spiritual maturity is rarely straightforward, and the culture we live in doesn’t make it any easier. We’re conditioned to crave quick fixes and instant results, but true growth—especially in our spiritual lives—is a slow and intentional process, much like the way things grow in creation.

In December each year, I spend time reflecting on spiritual growth in my own journey in preparation for this new year. I ask myself, “How is God inviting me to continue maturing as a follower of Jesus?”

Recently, I’ve been reading On Living Well, a collection of writings by Eugene Peterson. In it, Peterson shares this striking thought:

“Being human is not easy. Not at all easy. The seasons do not automatically develop us into maturity. Our instincts do not naturally guide us into a superior contentment. We falter and fail. We doubt and question. We work and learn. And just when we think we have it figured out, something else comes up that throws us for a loop.”*

I love the beautiful simplicity of Peterson’s insight. Spiritual growth has never happened on autopilot for me. Unlike a flower or a cat, which develop naturally according to their design, people don’t mature by default. Growing older doesn’t guarantee growing wiser or more Christlike. Real maturity requires intention, humility, and effort.

Growth at the Pace of Grace

In my book An Unhurried Life, I wrote a chapter titled “Maturity: Growing Up Takes Time.” In it, I quoted Brother Lawrence, who once observed of an overly enthusiastic sister, “She wants to advance faster than grace would allow. You don’t become a saint in a day!”†

Isn’t that the truth? In a world full of hacks, tricks, and shortcuts, we’re tempted to bring that same mindset to our spiritual lives. But there are no quick fixes for becoming more like Jesus. Real growth happens slowly—at the pace of grace. That’s good news! Unhurried growth is lasting growth.

The Bible invites us to grow, but it also reminds us that this growth is rooted in grace. Peter writes, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen” (2 Peter 3:18).

Paul, too, urges Timothy, “Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:1).

Grace is the soil in which our spiritual lives grow. But what does it mean to “grow in grace”? What does it look like to become strong in the grace of Jesus?

Paul’s Journey of Grace

One of the most helpful glimpses of what it means to grow in grace comes from the life of Paul. We see in his letters a trajectory of maturity rooted in growing humility.

In one of his earlier letters, Paul writes to the Corinthians, “For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect” (1 Corinthians 15:9-10).

Paul acknowledges his past and recognizes that he owes everything to the generous grace of God. God’s grace is Paul’s identity. God’s grace is what empowers him. God’s grace is everything for him.

Later, in his letter to the Ephesians, Paul deepens his perspective: “Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8).

Notice the shift? Paul’s sense of himself has become even more humble. He now considers himself less than even the least of all believers. It’s not that Paul is more of a nobody. It’s that his perspective is even more riveted to the generosity of God in his life. The trajectory continues in his first letter to Timothy, where he writes, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst” (1 Timothy 1:15).

From “least of the apostles” to “least of all believers” to “chief of sinners.” This isn’t false humility or self-loathing. It’s the perspective of someone who is growing in grace. The more Paul understood God’s love and holiness, the more he became aware of his own brokenness, his own shortcomings, his own need. And these are the places in our lives where God’s grace is drawn.

As we make our way into this new year, why not take a moment to reflect on the grace that meets you right where you are. Your own spiritual growth will not be about perfection or about how quickly you achieve certain milestones. It is about a loving journey with Jesus at a pace shaped by his love, wisdom, and grace. We can come to see our lives through the lens of grace, just like Paul did.

We can be honest about our need yet confident in God’s unrelenting generosity. So, let’s walk together into this season with open hands and open hearts, trusting that the One who began this good work in us will carry it to completion. May your growth this year be slow, steady, and rooted deeply in the soil of grace.

For Reflection: 

1. How do you sense God inviting you to embrace a slower, grace-filled pace of growth in this season?
2. Where in your life might you be trying to grow “faster than grace would allow”?
3. How might Paul’s journey of growing in grace encourage or challenge you today?

*Eugene Peterson, On Living Well (Waterbrook, 2021), 7.

† Quoted in Alan Fadling, An Unhurried Life, revised ed. (InterVarsity Press, 2020), 144.