Why am I not growing spiritually?

Mat 5:6  Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Why am I not growing spiritually?
Why I know so little about the bible?

The answer to the above questions is simple: it is because I have never been hungry for those things.

Have you ever been hungry or thirsty? I mean really hungry and thirsty? What happen to your body in extreme hunger and thirst? You are desperate for food and drink. You feel you need to fill up your stomach and quench your thirst straightaway. You feel like you are going to die if those things are not available immediately.

We can all relate to this beatitude because we experience a daily hunger that needs to be satisfied. When we are hungry and thirsty, we look for food and drinks. Christ used the things we do every day to deliver a lesson on spiritual hunger.

Our Lord said that blessed are they which do hunger and thirst not after the riches, honours, and pleasures of this world, but after righteousness. Unfortunately, many are hungry and thirsty for physical food, for power and honour, for riches and pleasures, but not for righteousness.

What does it mean to hunger and thirst after righteousness? It can mean a few things:
1. To hunger for the word of God. “My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness.” (Psalm 119:172).

2. To hunger for heavenly things: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33).

4. To hunger for righteous living: “Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” (2 Timothy 2:22).

5. To hunger for God: “Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.” (Isaiah 58:2).

The person who hungers and thirsts after righteousness has his mind fixes on doing the things that are pleasing to God.  Do you hunger and thirst for right relationship with God? Do you hunger for the word of God?

Our Lord is saying this: righteousness is as vital to the spiritual life as food and drink is to the physical life. Without the desire for righteousness, we cannot live spiritually. Without the hunger for the word of God, we cannot grow in grace and in the knowledge of His word (2 Peter 3:18).

Unfortunately, many are hungry for wealth, power, pleasures, honour and not for spiritual things. The athletes hunger for the gold medals at the Olympics.  They drive themselves to work very hard to fulfil their dreams. They push themselves to study every facet of their discipline, and they practice longer and harder than others. Their ambition knows no limits.

If we are ever that hungry for righteousness as those athletes, we will be righteous and spiritual. Christ said “they shall be filled.” Yes, God is in the filling business. In fact, the word "fill" means to be satisfied in the sense of being stuffed after a sumptuous meal. It’s like driving into a petrol station and asks for the tank to be fully filled.

The Christian who is hungry for righteousness will be fully filled. He will be satisfied. Righteousness is a lifestyle that distinguishes us as true Christians from the rest of the world. Righteousness causes us to seek God's things above everything else. It is a life that is centred about doing the will of God.

Are you hungry spiritually? The only way to be filled spiritually is to have an earnest desire for it. Let us hunger and thirst after righteousness; and we will be filled.


Jimmy Lau
Psa 119:97  Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.