--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: God always works for growth. Growth is…" description: "\"“God always works for growth. Growth is often unpleasant, even painful. Yet anything that happens can produce growth if the Spirit of God is welcomed a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a79/ruth-everhart-93961_bitterness_god-always-works-for-growth-growth-is-of_470416.jpg" --- # God always works for growth. Growth is often unpleasant… ![“God always works for growth. Growth is often unpleasant, even painful. Yet anything that happens can produce growth if the Spirit of God is welcomed and allowed to operate. At the same time, anything that happens can produce bitterness and decay if the Spirit of God is perceived as being absent…” quote by Ruth Everhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a79/ruth-everhart-93961_bitterness_god-always-works-for-growth-growth-is-of_470416.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a79/ruth-everhart-93961_bitterness_god-always-works-for-growth-growth-is-of_470416.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a79/ruth-everhart-93961_bitterness_god-always-works-for-growth-growth-is-of_470416.jpg) > ““God always works for growth. Growth is often unpleasant, even painful. Yet anything that happens can produce growth if the Spirit of God is welcomed and allowed to operate. At the same time, anything that happens can produce bitterness and decay if the Spirit of God is perceived as being absent. Our orientation to the Spirit of God determins whether we grow or decay.”” Ruth Everhart ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Spiritual orientation determines whether experiences yield growth or bitterness. **In simple terms:** Your stance toward the Spirit decides growth or decay. Key Takeaway Align with the Spirit to foster growth. Themes growth spirituality faith decay bitterness Mood contemplative hopeful Type theological motivational When to use this quote - church counseling - personal prayer - life challenges Key Concepts theological perspective personal development divine influence Questions to Reflect On - How does your view of the Spirit affect daily choices? - Can growth arise without spiritual awareness? A Different Perspective Interpretations of “Spirit” vary across traditions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bitterness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bitterness/) [Growth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growth/) [Holy spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holy-spirit/) [Personal growth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal-growth/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Spirit of god](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit-of-god/) [Spiritual growth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual-growth/) ## Related quotes > [ “The striving of humanity for knowledge and truth \[can\] not be suppressed. The growth of the spirit \[is\]an essential part of Creation; it was… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-prange/the-striving-of-humanity-for-knowledge-and-truth-can-not-be/) [Peter Prange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-prange/) > [“I watch the growth of spirit in the children who come to my class.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-saroyan/i-watch-the-growth-of-spirit-in-the-children-who-come-to-my-class/) [William Saroyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-saroyan/) > [“When I gardened at home, I often considered how the growth of plants resembles the gradual growth of the spirit. And seeing life make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-benton/when-i-gardened-at-home-i-often-considered-how-the-growth-of-plants/) [Janet Benton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-benton/) > [We live in an age fit for heroes. No time has ever offered such perils or prizes... The test of this century will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vince-lombardi/we-live-in-an-age-fit-for-heroes-no-time-has-ever-offered-such-perils/) [Vince Lombardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vince-lombardi/) > [When God works in us, the will, being changed and sweetly breathed upon by the Spirit of God, desires and acts, not from compulsion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/when-god-works-in-us-the-will-being-changed-and-sweetly-breathed-upon/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [I hold onto the spirit of God for everything, and that works for me. That aspect of my life is very real and is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/latanya-richardson/i-hold-onto-the-spirit-of-god-for-everything-and-that-works-for-me/) [LaTanya Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/latanya-richardson/) > [Once we started to urbanize, we put ourselves on this treadmill. We traded away stability for growth. And growth requires change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/once-we-started-to-urbanize-we-put-ourselves-on-this-treadmill-we/) [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) > [The cosmos is structured to bring about growth, and growth is always in the direction of greater love and happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/the-cosmos-is-structured-to-bring-about-growth-and-growth-is-always/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [“Change may not always bring growth, but there is no growth without change.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-t-bennett/change-may-not-always-bring-growth-but-there-is-no-growth-without/) [Roy T. Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-t-bennett/) > [The aim of education is growth: the aim of growth is more growth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-aim-of-education-is-growth-the-aim-of-growth-is-more-growth/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Without investment there will not be growth, and without growth there will not be employment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhtar-kent/without-investment-there-will-not-be-growth-and-without-growth-there/) [Muhtar Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhtar-kent/) > [Africa is experiencing rising rates of growth, but will growth get translated into development?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sanjaya-baru/africa-is-experiencing-rising-rates-of-growth-but-will-growth-get/) [Sanjaya Baru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sanjaya-baru/) > [“Our problem was not, and is not, a lack of growth. Our problem is 60 years of unproductive growth -- growth that has buried…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-marohn/our-problem-was-not-and-is-not-a-lack-of-growth-our-problem-is-60/) Charles Marohn > [Mere change is not growth. Growth is the synthesis of change and continuity, and where there is no continuity there is no growth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/mere-change-is-not-growth-growth-is-the-synthesis-of-change-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Change is not always growth, but growth is often rooted in change. Drizzt Do'Urden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/change-is-not-always-growth-but-growth-is-often-rooted-in-change/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Ruth Everhart > [“You are more than your virginity. You are more than your sexual history. You are more than what happens to you. You are immensely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-everhart/you-are-more-than-your-virginity-you-are-more-than-your-sexual/) Ruth Everhart Explore all 2 Ruth Everhart quotes ## More Bitterness quotes > [You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn't do anything to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-should-be-angry-you-must-not-be-bitter-bitterness-is-like-cancer/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [If Japanese tea 'stands,' it acquires a coarse bitterness and an unwholesome astringency. Milk and sugar are not used.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabella-bird/if-japanese-tea-stands-it-acquires-a-coarse-bitterness-and-an/) [Isabella Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabella-bird/) > [Stronger than alcohol, vaster than poetry, Ferment the freckled red bitterness of love!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/stronger-than-alcohol-vaster-than-poetry-ferment-the-freckled-red/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [“What?" I ask. I try not to get snappy with her. She hasn't really done anything wrong. Falling in love with Turner isn't a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-m-stunich/what-i-ask-i-try-not-to-get-snappy-with-her-she-hasn-t-really-done/) [C.M. Stunich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-m-stunich/) > [“The fairest things have fleetest end, Their scent survives their close: But the rose’s scent is bitterness To him that loved the rose. —Francis…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-rule/the-fairest-things-have-fleetest-end-their-scent-survives-their-close/) [Ann Rule](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-rule/) > [Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs. With this creed, revenge never worries my heart, degradation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/life-appears-to-me-too-short-to-be-spent-in-nursing-animosity-or/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“No," I say. "I didn't know that," and as I say it I feel flooded with bitterness at all the things Ingrid kept secret…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-lacour/no-i-say-i-didn-t-know-that-and-as-i-say-it-i-feel-flooded-with/) [Nina LaCour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-lacour/) > [Forgiving someone who've done you wrong or didn't treat you right could mean that you are allowing yourself to end up away from bitterness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/april-t-pascua/forgiving-someone-who-ve-done-you-wrong-or-didn-t-treat-you-right/) [April T Pascua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/april-t-pascua/) > [You cannot be inspired if you are surrounded with negativity, open the door and step into the inspirational garden of nature. Do not let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kemmy-nola/you-cannot-be-inspired-if-you-are-surrounded-with-negativity-open-the/) [Kemmy Nola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kemmy-nola/) > [It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it. Carry it by the comfortable handles of gratitude for what's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lena-horne/it-s-not-the-load-that-breaks-you-down-it-s-the-way-you-carry-it/) [Lena Horne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lena-horne/) > [Not forgiving prolongs hurt and anger and leads to smoldering resentment, which will make us miserable until it kills us. Resentment destroys the perception…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-walters/not-forgiving-prolongs-hurt-and-anger-and-leads-to-smoldering/) Richard Walters > [Let us not give in to pessimism, to that bitterness that the devil offers us every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/let-us-not-give-in-to-pessimism-to-that-bitterness-that-the-devil/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [“Sometimes it is good to remind ourselves how bitterness tastes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rin-chupeco/sometimes-it-is-good-to-remind-ourselves-how-bitterness-tastes/) [Rin Chupeco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rin-chupeco/) > [What folly made young people, even those in middle age, think they were immortal? How much better, their lives, if they could remember the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rohinton-mistry/what-folly-made-young-people-even-those-in-middle-age-think-they-were/) [Rohinton Mistry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rohinton-mistry/) > [Be sure there is something waiting for you after much patience, to astonish you to a degree, that you forget the bitterness of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/be-sure-there-is-something-waiting-for-you-after-much-patience-to/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) [Browse all 1,210 Bitterness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bitterness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“God always works for growth. Growth is often unpleasant, even painful. Yet anything that happens can produce growth if the Spirit of God is welcomed and allowed to operate. 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