Four men sit at a table together with hands folded to pray.

Nutrients For New Converts to Grow in Christ

Four essential ingredients help a young plant send down its roots, grow branches, and produce fruit: sunlight, good soil, nutrients, and water. 

Our desire for new converts—such as those who visited your church last month for Christmas—should be to see them produce fruit. Certain spiritual ingredients can foster that growth. Here are some that will help new believers grow in grace:

1. Personal Discipleship 

It is good to connect a mature believer to mentor the new convert. This person can guide, answer questions, and support the new convert’s Christian walk.

2. Cultivate Evangelistic Zeal 

As a new convert, I had a very real zeal for the lost, but I lacked essential knowledge. I didn’t understand that salvation is of the Lord (see Psalm 3:8). So I ran around getting “decisions” for Jesus. I was like Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane, using my sword of cut off ears. In time, my converts fell away because they were just that—my converts. I inoculated them to the truth and did more harm than good. A new convert should be told simply to plant the seed of the gospel and leave the results up to God. 

3. Bible Study Groups 

Encourage participation in small groups or Bible study classes where new converts can engage with Scripture, ask questions, and discuss their faith with others. There is something heartwarming for a new convert to sit among mature believers and hear their testimonies, thoughts about certain scriptures, and excitement about Jesus. This environment is also where the new convert needs to find an accountability partner with whom they can share their struggles and victories.

4. Daily Reading of the Bible

The greatest favor a new Christian can do for himself is to become disciplined to read the Bible daily. Someone once said of the Bible, “Sin will keep me from this book, and this book will keep me from sin.” And it’s true. Just as we need to discipline ourselves to eat healthy food each day, a new convert should discipline himself to desire the sincere milk of the Word daily.

5. Encouraging Regular Church Attendance 

Emphasize the importance of regularly attending church services, where the new convert can worship, support the church, hear sermons to help them grow and meet and engage in fellowship with other believers.

6. Create a Church Library 

Most Christians have books they have already read and are gathering dust in their homes. Encourage the congregants in the church you shepherd to donate these books to a church library for others to enjoy. Encourage the new converts to read them.

One of the greatest concerns of new converts is the salvation of their loved ones. As a new Christian, my immediate concern was that if my beloved parents or my brother and sister died in their sins, they would go to Hell. It would have saved my family and me much stress if I had been told right at the beginning of my walk that unsaved family members aren’t as impressed with words as they are with works. 

Scripture gives us a powerful weapon to use in the battle to reach those we love: 

“For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men…” (1 Peter 2:15). 

We should gift-wrap the gospel with our good works.

Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16). Good works are a way for love to be seen. Tell new converts to give gifts to their loved ones when least expected. Out-of-the-blue kindness, along with a simple note expressing love, can speak louder than the best of sermons shouted from the housetops. 

©2024 Ray Comfort. Used with permission.

About The Author

Ray Comfort
Ray Comfort

Ray Comfort is the Founder and CEO of Living Waters, a bestselling author, and has written more than 100 books, including, The Evidence Study Bible. He cohosts the award-winning television program Way of the Master, which airs in 190 countries, and has a YouTube channel with more than 200,000,000 views.

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