The other (and no less important) part of our spirituality

When we assume that the best way for our spiritual lives to prosper is to simply spend quiet time in prayer and/or meditation, we diminish the importance of other necessary aspects of living in harmony with God. Our faith and spirituality should not only be seen as something personal and individual, but should extend into our human relationships.

Jesus says in John 15:13 that "There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends." That is pretty powerful. God does care about our friendships, because Jesus has in interest in every single person. Laying down my life for my friends does not mean that I'm throwing away my life, but as O. Chambers so eloquently says, "I willingly and deliberately lay it [my life] for Him and His interests in other people. And I do this for no cause or purpose of my own." This very idea challenges our individualism and our tendency to cling to our own interests and desires.

Many of us are aware that God loves us so much and that we are precious in His eyes. But this love and acceptance does not give us permission to lead inward and self-centered lives. "For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love" (Romans 5:5). He has filled our hearts with His love, not just love in general. His love extends to every person on this earth. His love is not selfish and self-serving but instead is gracious, generous, and unconditional.

I know that I fail so often in laying my life for my friends. How am I supposed to lay down my life for my friends if I am constantly prioritizing my needs, emotions, and struggles above others? How do I expect to grow spiritually if I am not claiming and acting out His love that He has so graciously given me? How are we of use to others if we limit our "spirituality" or "faith" to only our personal, alone time with God?

God challenges us to live out our spirituality in our relationships with our friends, family, significant others, professors, co-workers, strangers, etc. How are we laying our lives down for these people? Are we putting aside our interests and desires to instead espouse God's all-encompassing, self-sacrificing love to truly serve and love others?

Instead of seeing all of this as a burden and yet another thing to put on our to-do list, I'm choosing to see this as a way in which God will work through me. He is the source of the strength, power, and love that it will take to lay down our lives for our friends -- let's not forget that it's really not about us.

So what are the practical steps that we can take to do this? I'm going to start with writing a few letters (I've been slackin' lately!), making a few phone calls, and most importantly of all, listening more.

Being spiritual

The call to spiritual perseverance: "a call not to hang on and do nothing, but to work deliberately, knowing with certainty that God will never be defeated" (Oswald Chambers). 

Many of us can say with conviction that our good friend Ozzy always puts us in our place and keeps us grounded and humble. He calls it like it is, or rather what we are, which is spiritually lazy. 

Being spiritual is so "in" right now -- who doesn't want to be known as someone who is spiritual? For those of us who are Christians, we often shy away from the word "religious" and instead want to be deemed "spiritual." And there is nothing wrong with that. But the reality is that we aren't spiritual just because we say we are or because we want to be. Being "spiritual" can mean many things for different people, but I'm going to dive into why  my I want to be more spiritual.

I would describe myself as self-aware, grounded, and in touch with my emotions. I am very comfortable in my humanness. I know myself -- I know my strengths, my weaknesses, and I can think logically about my emotions and human experiences. Now none of these things are bad -- in fact, I would say that this is a strength of mine. However, these good things can quickly turn into idols, and as Timothy Keller so succinctly points out, an idol is "anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give" (Counterfeit Gods). 

When I become so engaged in who I am as a human, I lose sight of my connectedness with God. I become disillusioned because I don't see myself as spiritual or connected to a spiritual being. There are so many times when I feel far from God and from the person that He made me to be. These things do not happen because God wants me to feel distant from Him; instead, this disconnect and distance is due to my lack of spiritual discipline and perseverance. We need to actively pursue Him every day, in the small, mundane details of everyday life, in conversations with other people, in our actions, in our thoughts, in our words, and in our alone time with Him. 

Like Oswald Chambers says, we can't just be lazy and do nothing, but instead we have to work deliberately in order to be spiritually connected to the highest Spiritual Being. The word "work" can be discouraging, as it might provoke worries of burden and fatigue. But this work is holy work and as Jesus promises us, "My yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:30). So that's one of my goals this Lenten season: to become more spiritually connected with God -- not merely to say that I'm "spiritual" but to truly be one with the holiest and highest Spirit of all.