Spiritual Growth

"Many beginners, delighting in the sweetness and joy of their spiritual occupations, strive after spiritual sweetness rather than after purity and discretion, which is that which God regards and accepts in the whole course of the spiritual way. For this reason, over and above their imperfection in seeking after sweetness in devotion, that spirit of gluttony, which has taken possession of them, forces them to overstep the limits of moderation, within which virtue is acquired and consists. . . Inasmuch then as all extremes are vicious, and as in this course of conduct men follow their own will, the consequences are that they grow in vice and not in virtue; at least they minister to their spiritual gluttony and pride, for they do not walk in the way of obedience." 

-St. John of the Cross in Dark Night of the Soul, pg. 26

I know that is a long excerpt, but it sadly is the reality in which many Christians live out their Christian faith today. There remains in them a desire for only that which is easy and pleasing, and thus they cease to grow in the spiritual life. This is also explained in Hebrews:

"Although you should be teachers by this time, you need to have someone teach you again the basic elements of the utterances of God. You need milk, [and] not solid food. About this we have much to say, and it is difficult to explain, for you have become sluggish in hearing. Although you should be teachers by this time, you need to have someone teach you again the basic elements of the utterances of God. You need milk, [and] not solid food. Everyone who lives on milk lacks experience of the word of righteousness, for he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties are trained by practice to discern good and evil." 

Hebrews 5:11-14

It begs us to ask the question, is our love for God really pure when we only love with the expectation of receiving something in return (namely consolations and spiritual highs) and which requires nothing of ourselves to give in return?

Lord, help us to love you more each day and to strive for a love that is as pure and holy as You. Amen.

Seeking God

Allow God to make us insignificant in the eyes of the world. It is for our betterment. We are weak, prone to pride, and very easily enticed toward vanity. 

As we learn to let go of ourselves--our wishes and desires and selfish tendencies--we will soon realize the beautiful treasure God is giving us. For it is when we let go of ourselves that we cling to Our Lord and find true life and satisfaction in Him alone. 

How easily ensnared we are in vanity and our desire for significance! The problem is we seek beauty, appeal, and significance from the world and not from God. If we truly only sought His delight, how different we would be. How truly beautiful we would be! A beauty that we can take with us into Heaven, a beauty that is not ours but Our Lords reflected in us. 

We must realize how much appearance deceives us. We must take special care to not project our own ideas of what God finds beautiful. 

"God does not see as a mortal, who sees the appearance. 

The LORD looks into the heart." 

1 Samuel 16:7

We also must take special care to not place value in things typically highly valued in our world. Often what God values, the world despises. Since we have a disordered desire to appeal to those around us, we can shun what God values in exchange for what the world values. This is dangerous of course because we will begin to slowly reject God without even realizing it at first. 

“No one can serve two masters. 

He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. 

You cannot serve God and mammon."

Matthew 6:24

Let us cling to God alone and orient our lives toward Him and the things of Him. Pray for humility, ask how we can love Him more in our lives, and ask for the help to forget ourselves and find Him.

Enter into the silence

I want to take a few moments to write down some thoughts that have occurred to me lately. It is SO important to take time out and distance ourselves from the world--to enter into the quiet and stillness where God can be found and is waiting for us.

Sometimes this place is a scary place. Allowing ourselves to be present with God means He may ask things of us that are difficult. He may ask us to change things about ourself that we don't really want to change (and may even love about ourselves) or uproot bad habits or any number of difficult things. Sometimes we avoid transparency and closeness with God, without even meaning to, because in our heart of hearts we fear what drawing nearer to God might entail.

I really believe, however, that only in this quiet place where our fears are exposed and surrender is offered, true healing begins from the damage caused by sin and flesh. Only here can we hope to really separate ourselves from the (often many) ungodly attachments we have in our lives. Growth in holiness will be quicker as we immerse ourselves in total reliance on Jesus ALONE and not in ourselves.

Jesus gave us this example when He, too, withdrew Himself from the world to spend time with His Father. He also chose to surrender to the Father's Will despite the agony it resulted in. If we are called to strip away parts of ourself and that process results in agony, it will all be worth it in the end. We can't know what God has in store for those of us who choose to love Him and serve Him HERE, in THIS world. The time is NOW! This is our opportunity, I pray we won't pass it up.