Many Christians in America…not all, but many…have become people who go to God when something’s not going the way that they want, or when they want something, and that’s the only communication they have with the Almighty. That’s a truly selfish population of Christians isn’t it. We have God, who loves us, who wishes for a relationship with us, who knows that we are imperfect–yet gave us the gift of the Messiah, the ultimate sacrifice, to cleans us so that we COULD have a relationship with Him, and we only go to Him when we need something.
I believe humans have four basic groups of needs to fill, most of us look only at three, Physical, Mental/Emotional, and Social…and ignore the very important Spiritual. To have a balanced life and be truly happy we must take care of ourselves on all levels, and they intertwine at times, well, most times. If you don’t take care of yourself physically by eating correctly, exercising, sleeping well, etc…hormones and other various chemicals won’t be released when they’re supposed to be, the way you see yourself may change, you may feel tired and worn out, which takes it’s tool on your mind and emotions and thus who you associate yourself with, which further effects your emotions and mental state of being. That’s logical, correct? It’s works all ways; if you associate yourself with negative people, you’re more likely to be negative; if you associate yourself with people who shirk their physical needs, you’re more likely to do the same…and all vice versa. It’s how we work. But what of the Spiritual? What of the needs that come with our spiritual selves?
Reader, I do not know if you are a Christian, or if you even believe that there is a God. But if you don’t believe in God, and take to heart, I mean the God of Abraham and of Issac…the God who gave the power to Moses to lead a people through a split sea, the God who gave His people a Messiah, if you don’t believe in this God, I must wonder, do feel as though there is a part of you missing, like you can’t find joy in anything, like you are constantly searching for…something? And if you do believe in this God that I speak of, but only go to Him when you need something, or on a Sabbath day, or holidays…but ignore Him at all other times, do you feel a void, do you feel joyless, are you searching?
My mother said to me, “Amanda, so often people say that we are humans searching for our spirituality, but really we are Spiritual beings having a human experience.” I can’t remember where she said she got that, some book she was reading probably, but think about that statement for a minute. You are not searching for you’re spirituality, you are a Spiritual Being. Of course we are trapped in these broken vessels called bodies, with all their fleshy limitations, and we have to daily defeat that human part of us. But we are spiritual. Think of why we are made….God was lonely. He wanted a companion, someone to talk to, someone to love Him, someone to love. Sounds like us right? God is not bound by humanness like we are, but He did create us in His image. Inside of us, in our Spirit, in our Hearts, we long for the same things God wants, a relationship based on perfect love. We were made to want that, and we are made to specifically want Him, the only ONE capable of Perfect love. But we try to fill this need with the love of the imperfect. Think of it this way, all of our need groups have a mouth (literally our physical side has a mouth). We should feed our physical selves with healthy things, we should feed our minds with good things, we should feed our social selves healthy relationship. Why, why are we starving our spiritual selves be trying to feed it something it can’t eat. Just like God can’t be near sin, our spiritual selves can’t be fed anything but the truths God gives us, it can’t be satisfied with less that our Holy Father and His perfect love. Our spiritual selves will except nothing but that. His love can make all other loves good enough, because you see them as blessing, and not imperfection. But we have to allow Him to feed us.
We must center ourselves with God. We must relent and allow ourselves to have that love, that relationship. We must accept God. This surrender of self to God, the only sacrifice God requires to be a part of our lives, this centering will fill that void, will feed the spirit. Our hearts have a place shaped for God, nothing else will fill it. And it’s at the center. God has to be our life’s passion.
So we know that we have four need groups, the Spiritual side will change your mind on lots of things, control your emotions for the better, make you want friends who know what you know, and ultimately effect how you take care of your body. We know that we need God to fill that spiritual side…we have to invite Him into our lives by surrendering ourselves to Him, self sacrifice. But what does that mean?
With any other relationship that you start how do you take care of it? You go spend quality time with someone, talk to someone, maybe simply sit with someone. Same with God. We may not be able to comprehend God’s ways, but He created our ways. Think about it, if you love somebody you want to be around them don’t you. He made you that way, because He wants to be with you. He walked with Adam in the garden, talked with him in the garden. He wanted a relationship with Adam, He desired it, just as a parent wants a relationship with their child. And remember, we are created in His image, our spirits desire the same thing. Adam wanted to walk with God, to talk to God (as did Eve).
We are meant to take time, our time, and sit and talk with God. Read His word and listen to Him, just sit in His company and feel Him with you. Do a daily devotion, journal about your feelings. Write God letters. Anything that you would do to keep a relationship with another human healthy, do with God.
But…yes there is a but. But it’s not just about spending time with God, it’s about changing your ways to please God. I know a lot of females, possibly men, but I’m a girl so I understand girls, lots of females know what it means to alter their appearances and behavior to attract a man. We are driven by this need to be loved and accepted by them, which makes sense, we were created for men, to be loved by them*. And because of this drive, we change. But what if we were driven just as much to please God, to be loved and accepted by God. We would naturally change to suit our need. Correct?
Changing means defeating the flesh in us. And I don’t say this as a perfect person. I allowed so much garbage into my mind that my emotions and body suffered, I starved my spirit. I payed the consequences with spiritually. I’m still paying the consequences. It gets easier because I’m feeding my spirit more often. The change doesn’t happen all at once either. I forget to do Bible studies as I heal. It’s my flesh saying, “God answered my prayer, I’ll talk to Him next time I need something.” Shame on me. I’ll starve again and be left building back my foundation by forcing my flesh back down. It takes diligence. You literally have to force yourself into God’s presence because it goes against the flesh to die to self and let God take over everything. But it becomes a habit, and it becomes easier as your faith matures. For me dieing to self means making sure I don’t read certain things, don’t watch certain things, that I make sure not to cuss, that I forsake all that doesn’t glorify God, or that will keep me from glorifying God. Instead of the sexy romance novels, I read Jane Austen and Janette Oke. Jane Austen is classical romance, Oke writes Christian romance. I still get to see people fall in love, I’m just not reading…well you know.
In exchange for living a good life, a Godly life, I receive the fruits of the Spirit*. I receive a relationship with the Lord God Almighty. I have a perfect love, an shakeable joy. Even in my darkest hours my spirit cries out, “Look at how I am blessed, surely the Lord must love me to make me struggle, for I find myself in His presence in this hour.” This is what I get for trying to serve God and have Him at the center of my life. A God centered life is a blessed life. I’m becoming a Proverbs 31 woman*, and as the journey goes I see that it is a blessed life that is lived for God.
~Amanda~
*Stay tuned for more on these subjects….
Sorry for any gramatical errors you see, I’ll edit later, sleep now.
