Spirituality

People believe spirituality to be simply a belief in God’s existences. If you believe, then you are spiritual. In reality that is just the beginning. True spirituality is having an eternal perspective. Those with this perspective have an understanding that their lives are part of a larger picture, and eternal scheme. Paul taught this principle more than once in his ministry.

“We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18)

“For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” (Romans 5:5-6)

Those that are eternally minded have a more positive view of their lives. They still experience hardship. They still have pain. The difference is that they see their experiences as passing and manageable because of the power and plan of God.

I taught this principle to a friend of mine once. At the time, my husband was undergoing his third round of chemotherapy. It was not helping him to enter remission but was simply buying him time until we could get the transplant that he needed. This day, my friend watched my two boys so that I could visit with my husband in the hospital. When I went to pick them up, we began talking about how things were going with his treatment. She told me that her family was praying each day that my husband would recover. I replied that her prayers were greatly appreciated and that we were still hoping that that would be the case. I then told her that regardless of whether he recovered or not, the will of the Lord would be done and we would make it through it. 

I had thought little about that exchange until months later, after my husband’s death. In church one day, that same friend came up to me and mentioned that day to me. She said that my words had stayed with her and have reminded her of our purpose here. They had helped her to find peace in my husband’s death, something that seemed unfair in her eyes.

Our spirituality helps us to weather the storms that come our way. An eternal perspective gives us the hope that these trials are for a short time. It helps us to find a reason to keep moving forward, in the hopes of better things to come.