Today’s Readings: Psalm 72; 1 Samuel 9:1-14; John 15:18-27; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21; Psalm 133
If I were to ask you, “What are some tools you could use to evaluate a person’s spiritual life”, lots of folks would respond by putting forward a list of things a person should be engaged in. “A spiritual person should have an active prayer/meditation life,” one might start by saying. “And a spiritual person should have a devotional life that connects his or her story with the sacred stories of one’s faith,” another might add. “And a faithful person should be a good steward and give generously to help others,” another might pipe in. All of things are certainly qualities that should flow naturally from one’s faith. But there’s a whole level of one’s walk that is left out of such a list. You see such a list would make it seem that the vast majority of a Christian’s life is lived in a vacuum: that it consists simply of things we do on our own. That’s not the case. An equally important part of our spiritual life ought to exist through our relationships with other people. Paul wrote in today’s passage from 2 Corinthians: “All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and [God], and then called us to settle our relationships with each other… We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them” (2 Corinthians 5:18 & 20 from The Message). My question for you to consider today is this: “If someone were to examine the interpersonal relationships in your life, what would the way you handle those relationships say about your faith?” Til next time…
If I were to ask you, “What are some tools you could use to evaluate a person’s spiritual life”, lots of folks would respond by putting forward a list of things a person should be engaged in. “A spiritual person should have an active prayer/meditation life,” one might start by saying. “And a spiritual person should have a devotional life that connects his or her story with the sacred stories of one’s faith,” another might add. “And a faithful person should be a good steward and give generously to help others,” another might pipe in. All of things are certainly qualities that should flow naturally from one’s faith. But there’s a whole level of one’s walk that is left out of such a list. You see such a list would make it seem that the vast majority of a Christian’s life is lived in a vacuum: that it consists simply of things we do on our own. That’s not the case. An equally important part of our spiritual life ought to exist through our relationships with other people. Paul wrote in today’s passage from 2 Corinthians: “All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and [God], and then called us to settle our relationships with each other… We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them” (2 Corinthians 5:18 & 20 from The Message). My question for you to consider today is this: “If someone were to examine the interpersonal relationships in your life, what would the way you handle those relationships say about your faith?” Til next time…
No comments:
Post a Comment