Message for growth:
Letting go of Spiritual Pacifiers:

Esthere, my spiritual daughter, was telling me about when she took Nathaniel, her little baby off the pacifier.
During the few nights that he cried and tossed and turned, she didn't give it back to him, but lovingly comforted him. Shortly thereafter, he no longer wanted nor cried for it. 

You know she said, as Christians, sometimes we can have spiritual pacifiers."

This is a great truth; "we give ourselves spiritual pacifiers." They are the things, habits, attitudes, or a person that we run to when our emotions have an overwhelming hunger for comfort. It is when life overwhelms us with feelings of pain, fear, anger, regret, shame, doubt or loneliness.

There is a difference between swelling and growth. A pacifier swells you with the illusion of fullness and comfort. 
For a while, these habits and relationships makes us feel that we are getting what we need from them.
But they only comfort us, temporarily until our flesh is overwhelmed again. We know that this habit or person will not fully satisfy us, but in that moment, it stops the hunger that our flesh cries for from inside of us.

Jesus knew all that we would have to go through and all that we would need in this life, and he sent the TRUE COMFORTER for our souls: the Holy Spirit.

The Word of God reveals how the Holy Spirit gives true comfort, nourishment and growth.
He will comfort you and be with you and in you forever.  John 14:16,17, 26
He comes from God, our heavenly Father. John 15:26 
He will guide you in all truth. John 16:13
He will give you power to be a witness.  Acts 1:8 
He will fill your hearts with God's love. Romans 5:5
He will pray for you, when you do not know what to pray for yourself.
Romans 8:26-27
He will give you fruit from himself, love, joy, peace, faith, goodness.., Gal. 5:22-23
He will give you strength from himself to your spirit. Eph. 3:16
He will give you what you need to live a godly and holy life. 2 Peter 1:3.

In other words, the Holy Spirit is the true Comforter, he is the true nourishment that our soul's hunger for.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray every day, to remove the pacifiers from our lives and be filled with the true Comforter of our souls, his Holy Spirit. Amen.