a) Set your hearts
We need to set our hearts to work hard. Henry said ‘The spiritual life is a gift. It is the gift of the Holy Spirit, who lifts us up into the kingdom of God's love. But to say that being lifted up into the kingdom of love is a divine gift does not mean that we wait passively until the gift is offered to us.’ Shifting our heart from occupied and preoccupied worries to the kingdom of God involves serious aspirations and strong determination. A spiritual life requires physical, mental, emotional efforts. Therefore, the bible required us to love God with all our being. The forces that keep pulling us back into a worry-filled life are far from easy to overcome.
Consistency in keeping discipline is the key for Spiritual well being. Discipline is the other side of discipleship. The lesser we pay attention to many worries the more we become sensitive to the small, gentle voice of God. A spiritual life requires discipline because we need to learn to listen to God, who constantly speaks but whom we seldom hear. When, however, we learn to listen, our lives become obedient lives. The word obedient comes from the Latin word audire, which means "listening."
In the beginning of our journey many distractions will be keep presenting themselves. However, when they received less and less attention, they slowly withdraw. Without solitude it is virtually impossible to live a spiritual life. Solitude begins with a time and a place for God, and time alone. On the contrary, when we have removed our outer distractions, we often find that our inner distractions manifest themselves to us in full force. On the other hand, we must have community where we can share and be encouraged by others. The community is where we show concern and love for one another. The community is not there to seek for their own interest but it is a community of God’s people who are willing to share life together.
___________________________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment