What spiritual education are you getting?
We are all getting an education in the life of the spirit (our non-physical self and its connection to God)it is just a matter of which one.
Don’t believe me then try this short quiz and see what it says about your Growing Up:
How does your spiritual life affect your decision making?
What spiritual practices/ritual/routines do you enter into on a regular basis?
What was the biggest influence for your current spiritual state? Parents, mentors, people you read, friends?
Paul, the great saint of the New Testament, had a miracle experience with Christ on the road to Damascus that converted him and changed the trajectory of his life. But, Paul did not start writing Romans or 1 Corinthians 13 the following day because he suddenly had a full grasp of all doctrine and theological intricacies of Christ. No, scripture says he spent years in the Arabian desert and then later had to be plucked from obscurity by Barnabas to begin serving the church.
Paul, this great man of thought, mission, and ministry, had a lot of learning to do. In one of his more famous writings, Paul talks about his learning. He states, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances…I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation.”
Robert Morgan says about Paul’s education, “This was an acquired education. It took time, spiritual maturing, emotional growth, and divine tutoring to get to this mind-set and perspective…Just as we learn to ride a bicycle, perform specialized skills at work, or cook risotto, so we have to learn to function on a spiritual level.”
I had read this passage from Paul many times but hadn’t paid attention to that word learned. We assume that Paul, or our favorite pastor, or our favorite writer just possesses a strong faith or a rock solid belief but we don’t realize that each person we admire in the Christian faith had an education of some sort. They, themselves, had to Grow Up and mature and learn so that God could use them for ministry or influence or impact.
If you want to Grow Up in your spiritual life and work on this education in faith, let me suggest a few paths to do so.
- Ask God to teach you. Pray for guidance and direction in your spiritual education.
- Take one well known or well loved passage of scripture and immerse yourself in it. Read it daily for a week, listen to it in different versions, use a good Study Bible, and discuss it with a spiritual friend. Don’t feel like you have to rush onto the next scripture or passage. Strive for depth and see where this takes you.
- Track your actions and decisions over a week. How we act and what we do shows how we believe. Don’t beat yourself up but be honest about your real priorities and motivations and areas of growth.
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