The Value of Spirituality — the felt way of knowing
Without compassionate actions, one’s spirituality is unseen.
Sometimes it seems that being a Christian is hard to explain as we all live in a very material culture in an increasingly secular world. This limits us in our awareness and even words to describe our spirit and all things spiritual — the essence of our religion.
However, any discussion of personhood, the purpose of life, Christianity, and/or holistic human development must include the spirit — the spiritual aspect of self — as it is an essential part of the whole self.
The spirit or soul is the nonmaterial part of the person — immaterial and unseen by eyes. The other parts of the person are the physical body, along with mental/behavioral, social/relational, and community/cultural aspects, which are all observable.
For elaboration on this, see my pinned article Holistic Health for the Whole Person.
Faith
Focusing on the unseen requires a marked degree of faith because it is not in the awareness of the casually unfocused, unaware, unbelieving, or atheistic person. In the New Testament, we learned what faith means:
"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see (Hebrews 11.1 NIV)."
Some nonreligious persons may prefer to speak of our spiritual being in secular terms like, the “higher self” or even the “true self.” By whatever name, it includes our awareness of the unseen things that are greater than ourselves. For the secular world that might be called “my higher power.” We Christians call it God or the three-in-one Holy Trinity.
Heart: our personal morality is based on our feelings.
Our spiritual being gives us a moral compass (conscience). We each have an innate sense of knowing right from wrong intuitively throughout our lives from childhood on and it can be honed by human experiences — learning. Some like to metaphorically call this awareness the heart while others may call it a gut feeling.
Regardless of the terminology, one’s spiritual health and ethical behavior mandate being aware of our emotional state and intentions at all times and acting compassionately.
It is the felt way of knowing — through our experiences.
Right Actions/Ethical Behaviors and Spiritual Development
The spiritually aware, wise person will act with discernment according to their intuitions as the Creator intended and not in an impulsive, restless, or self-serving manner.
Spiritual intelligence requires knowing one’s authentic self, which includes emotional awareness as well as empathy, compassion, intuition, and seeing the big picture — being aware that mundane things are only a part of the greater purpose of living. Material possessions, prestige, and social power over others are not the right goals. Spiritual power comes from above. The goal is to be a servant leader like Jesus of Nazareth, the greatest servant-leader of all time (and more).
Spiritual development provides motivation and resilience to fulfill the individual’s right path or calling. Thus, the spiritually conscious Christian acts in a highly ethical manner to serve the common good of all. The spiritually astute are more willing to listen to others to understand them better, rather than talking to explain themselves — one’s opinion — or to promote self-interests.
Spiritually developed individuals are mostly concerned about respectful, cooperative relationships in all of their human interactions. They live, gratefully, gracefully, forgivingly, peacefully, and collaboratively in their community.
The Golden Rule
We must be spiritually aware, intelligent, and compassionate to love our neighbors— just as they are — as much as ourselves. This is the good news that Jesus taught His followers as reported in The Gospels as we see in Luke 10.25–8:
"And behold a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, 'Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?' He said to him, 'What is written in the law? How do you read?' And he answered, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.' And He said to him, 'You have answered right; do this and you will live (RSV).’"
This Golden Rule is also written in John 13.34–35, 15.12–17; Matthew 5.44–47; 1 John 4.19–21; and James 2.8.
Christian Love - ”Agape” (Gk.); Compassion
The Apostle Paul provided more insight into this truth in what has become known as the love verses, 1 Corinthians 13.4–13.
“So faith, hope and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love (1 Cor. 13.13, RSV)."
Spiritual compassion is defined as a form of love — the best form of love (Agape). And when love sees suffering, differences, or conflicts among people and continues to act lovingly, that is compassion.
One’s spirituality and spiritual health are most often manifested in human interactions — relationships with others. When we do work for the higher good for all — self, all others, and community — that is acting out the spiritual aspect of ourselves in accord with Christian morals. Paul wrote,
"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6.2, NIV)."
Developing Our Spiritual Intelligence — the Christian Way
By repeatedly using our spiritual awareness and insights we heighten and improve our spiritual senses and intuition. This effort further develops our spiritual self. Thus, we can enhance our spiritual intelligence and functioning with self-awareness, attending, and attuning to the spiritual aspect of self, relationships, and life, despite being surrounded by materialism in an extremely materialistic culture (most often on both the macro and micro levels).
Therefore, whenever we are challenged and/or in doubt in our day-to-day lives, loving kindness toward others is always the best way to act — the Christian way to be. That will enhance our personal spiritual development overall for good holistic health, which benefits everyone. Thus, it achieves a win-win-win outcome as each person involved benefits and it is servicing the common good for the whole community, which makes one’s spirituality and spiritual development visible to all.
In doing all of this we each can advance our spiritual development, and spiritual intelligence, as we act out our Christian morals.
#spirituality #holisticdevelopment #compassion #leadership #faith&life
