Spiritual Contemplations for those who serve the Lord |
Spiritual tepidity and dryness is a big problem, even more serious when it finds its way to servants because it is destructive to life as well as service if succumbed and resigned to it. Spiritual indifference creeps in stealthily and gradually attacking even those who have chosen to walk the spiritual walk. The fight against it requires extra efforts, striving and repentance in order to avoid spiritual degradation and eventually loss of the crown of heaven. The Holy Book of Revelations expressed the danger of spiritual apathy in the message to the angel of the church in Laodicea. “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot] I will vomit you out of My mouth” (Revelation 3:15-16). It is not an exaggeration to say that this whole present generation suffers from different forms of spiritual degeneration which have penetrated life, worship and service. It is sensed in confessions wherein individuals express their struggle against this dangerous enemy. For, there is the one suffering from tremendous weakness in prayer; another suffers from lack of enthusiasm in reading the Holy Bible. A third worships and serves in superficiality and dividedness. In this respect it is necessary to investigate the cause of this spiritual weakness and the means of combating it with the God-given weapons along with our alertness, struggling and fighting. What, then, are the causes of a lukewarm spiritual life? Lack of Love for God
Love is the source of the saying by the Fathers, “Love God and do whatever you want to do.” This saying sprang from a strong love for God from a pure heart. “ Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart” (1 Peter 1:22). This type of love for God protects against faltering and breaking the commandment. “ There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9). The Fact of the Matter: a spiritually cold person is someone who has not yet matured in his love nor does he/she proactively practice love towards God. Remedy: + Providing chances of meditating on the cross and what the Lord has done for us will fill the heart with love for God and appreciation for His initiated unconditional love. “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). + Living in an environment of meditative life-giving prayers in the person of Jesus Christ and all His attributes (praises, psalms, memoirs of the saints). + Uttering frequently the name of Jesus Christ as a sweet precious melody. + Residing in a surrounding of brotherly love, hastening to do good works and merciful acts. “put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering” (Colossians 3:12). This perpetuates the flow of love and dissipates all coldness, weakness and stiffness of feelings. + Singing to your God with psalms and spiritual songs. “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19). “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16). Loss / Deformation of Goal
If the spiritual goal gets lost, the result will be confusion in understanding and deviation away from the core of the kingdom. Turning towards self-glorification and honor causes spiritual callousness and defilement of the walk resulting in scarcity of fruit in spiritual life and service. Therefore, a servant should have a genuine spiritual goal extending its purity and clarity from heaven as expressed in St. Paul’s word, “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14). Thus it can be deduced that the absence of an absolute spiritual goal from a servant’s heart, mind and conscience will lead him into a distractive dilemma ending up in spiritual dryness and beating the air as St Paul said, “Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air” (1 Corinthians 9:26).
Clarity of goal grants self-control. “ And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown” (1 Corinthians 9:25). Let us remind ourselves with the goal for which we were called to serve and worship. ....... to be continued. * Adapted from HGBY monthly clergical spouse letters - August 2013
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AboutMonthly articles for servants. Adapted from HGBY and other fathers' writings. Archives
April 2022
Categories
All
|