I still love personal retreats. But I have also begun doing a variation: a group retreat. Each year, three of my dearest friends and I carve out twenty-four hours for a time of friendship, fellowship, and fun. I am delighted to give you a look into this precious time and hope it may be of some help to you.

Your spiritual growth will not happen automatically. You must dedicate time and effort in an organized and methodical manner. The good news is there are “cheat codes” that will help you to grow faster and more reliably. These codes are structures you can build your life around, making spiritual growth far more reliable.

We often read the crucifixion scenes in the Gospels simply as historical accounts of Jesus’ death—and they certainly serve that purpose. But on a deeper level, these narratives reveal the cost of grace and the staggering sacrifice that Christ offered.

“But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” (Isaiah 66:2b)

Here is a promise that God gives; he will look at the individual who has the three characteristics mentioned in this verse.

“But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.” (Romans 7:6)