How Can I Increase Spirituality in my Life?
This week in Zone Conference we were Challenged to Increase in Spirituality. Why is this so Important? How can we do this?
In the Middle Ages languages were evolving in the European Territories at a fast rate. Dutch, which was previously indistinguishable from German veered off on it’s own. The influence of the Norse invaders as well as the Frisians with their connections to the British Isles started to mold the language into what it is now. In England, the Saxons had entered with their Germanic language and virtually eradicated the Celtic tongue from most of the British Isles. Romans had conquered earlier also leaving a mark on the English language. For three hundred years starting in 1066 AD the French speaking Normans ruled Britain, which also greatly influenced English. This interesting mixture provided a larger vocabulary than that of the other European languages. There were often two words that meant the same thing. Over time these doublets tended to take on slightly different shades of meaning. Language experts like to say that the French word often took on a more refined or ‘inward’ meaning while the German and Norse words would be more ‘outward’ leaning. (The French derived word battle could describe an inward struggle whereas the Germanic word fight tends to best describe only outward conflicts; The French derived word joy versus the Norse word happy is another example of this inward versus outward situation). So English became a good language to both speak of external things as well as internal thoughts and philosophy.
We often approach situations with an outward (worldly) frame of reference, or with an inward (spiritual) point of view. The outward is thrust upon us very early in our mortal lives, as we experience hunger, pain or even when we just open our eyes and look around us. This point of view can be termed ‘natural’.
The inner thoughts and feelings are more sensitive and can be called ‘spiritual’. In fact the French word ‘esprit’ can mean both ghost, (as in Holy Ghost), or our inner consciousness. When we relate to God or Christ we are generally dealing with important thoughts and feelings ‘in our spirit’ as opposed to immediately tangible, visible or ‘natural’ objects.
All this is to point out that even since early times man and civilizations have had these two worlds to reconcile. To be in tune with the Spirit is mostly an inward activity, not seen, and therefore oft times more difficult to relate to; for we are ‘natural’ beings.
In 1 Corinthians 2:14 we are taught by Paul “ But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
When Elder Causse spoke in general conference he quoted from the philosophical story The Little Prince by Antoine St. Exupery “But the eyes are blind. One must look with the heart”
Therefore to increase our spirituality we must look less with our eyes and feel more with our heart.
Often where the Spiritual and Physical meet is where we can find great power, if we can keep our spiritual ‘hearts’ in control over our ‘natural’ bodies.
In the gospel we place great importance on ordinances, which are by definition “outward manifestations of inner commitments”
In our quest to increase spirituality we will focus on several outward actions that will increase our inner or spiritual strength. We will also focus on a few inward thought patterns that we will need to learn to control in order to improve our spirituality.
Elder Joe Christiansen of the Seventy has outlined ten things that can help us to improve our Spirituality. Over the next few weeks we will examine these points and see how we can put them into practice in our own lives and in our missionary work.
Read Scriptures Daily.
R What are scriptures? How can reading them help me? Latter-day revelation identifies scripture as that which is spoken under the influence of the Holy Ghost (D&C 68:1–4). We often say that it is a record of God’s dealings with His people. If the words in the scriptures are written under the influence of the Holy Spirit then it follows that we should study them if we desire to reinforce our Spirituality. We are often counseled to read ‘straight from the scriptures’ as opposed to reading books about the scriptures. As we read the actual words and phrases that were written with the help of the Holy Spirit we can feel a strong bond between the truths we read and our personal needs. If we too read the scriptures while we have the Spirit with us then the connection between physically reading and spiritually feeling can create enormously motivating energy as well as knowledge of what we should do to improve ourselves. Through the Holy Spirit we will receive answers to our questions as we read. We can gain new insights into gospel truths of a pure form. As missionaries we can obtain inspiration for ways to help our investigators find answers to their questions and come unto Christ. The desire to drink deeply from the well of the scriptures can become exciting and fulfilling. As we participate in this spiritually strengthening activity we will find the inspiration of greater spirituality guiding us to make better choices. We will have a mighty change of heart and have “no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually” (Mosiah 5:2).
As a recently returned missionary I found myself needing help. I was hopelessly in love with Sister Brubaker but there were some perceived obstacles to getting married at that time. Some outside pressures and probably some fears threatened our relationship. One night I prayed fervently for guidance. As I ended my prayer and then opened the Scriptures, they fell open to Genesis in the Old Testament to the story of Rebekah and Isaac. As I read the words there was both knowledge gained and a feeling of calm reassurance that we should go forward and get married soon. I shared the scripture with Sister (Rebecca) Brubaker and was grateful that she also felt the reassurance of the Spirit. The answer was not at first evident with natural eyes. But with spiritual ‘eyes’ and the power of the scriptures, the answer became evident…The Scriptures provide a powerful tool to increase Spirituality.
2. Really pray and not just say prayers. Prayer is the means given by which we can communicate with God the Father. This communication is often compared to work. As we examine the great prayers in the scriptures we note that there were phrases used such as ‘poured out their hearts’, ‘wrestled with the Lord’ and more.
Next week we will discuss prayer more and then move on to some of the other 8 points, which can help us increase in Spirituality.
The Lord loves us, God the Father loves us. For now we are more than simply God’s children. We are also His army. As His missionaries we are promised to be blessed with inspiration “greater than at other times during our lives”. I pray that we will take full advantage of this promise as we learn to effectively increase our level of spirituality and then act accordingly in the ‘natural’ world with the insight given us through the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.
We love you all. Have a great week,
President Brubaker
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