Caitlin here- as hopefully everyone knows Christianity is not a faith in which you can achieve perfection. There is no moment where you have learned all you need to know or reached the highest tier you can reach, or could say to yourself "I've done it! I've grown as much as I need to, I am perfect, and now I can stop striving." So then, since there is no 12 step program for Christianity, how could you define spiritually fit? What do you do to measure whether you are on track with your relationship with God? How can you tell apart those who would be a good mentor for you from those who wouldn't be a good mentor? Here's my take: I go to 1 Corinthians 3:2 "I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready." For me, someone who is spiritually fit is someone who has gotten beyond the "milk" of Christianity. What I mean is this, they know the basics: Jesus died on the cross for your sins, he has risen from the dead, and through that has saved us and has called us his own" to me, that is the milk of Christianity- the very basics. There is so much more to Christianity though! It is more than just believing Christ died to save you, you have to take it a step further and actually nurture a relationship with Him. For me there are two things that makes someone "spiritually fit" 1) They are continually nurturing their relationship with God. They seek Him out and make an effort to build their relationship with Him. 2) They know what they believe and they know why they believe it. I really think each person needs to take their faith beyond "I believe this because that is how I was raised" or "I believe this because that is what my pastor preaches." If you believe that baptism is essential for salvation that is great, but can you tell me why you believe it? If you believe the spiritual gifts are still alive and well in the church today, fantastic, but can you back it up with Scripture? To me one who is spiritually fit can explain what they believe to others and why they believe it. What are your thoughts readers??? How would you define spiritually fit?
Hmmm...I suppose that one way that I would define being Spiritually fit is to lean not on my own understanding, but on His. You have drilled this into my mind the last couple of weeks when I couldn't see it...and I think that this is a real key. We don't need to look at our own lives and see that we have screwed up or that we are too big, or whatever; we need to look and listen to Him for Him to tell us what we need to change, and how we can accomplish that change.
ReplyDeleteGood point Vicki! I am blessed that God has been able to use me to help you see this. I just pray he keeps using me to be an encouragement to others. Proverbs 27:17- As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another!
ReplyDeleteI love how you know verses for every point of life! =] You should write a book.
ReplyDeleteAww- thanks, that is sooo sweet- a chunk of them are just from books I've read. I use to attend leadership classes at walloon and our core verse was Prov 27:17, and it has always stuck with me.
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