A Primer on Spiritual Development (Part 10)

Yesterday we answered the question why despite its relevance to the different areas of our life, spiritual development has not been given due emphasis in our personal development. Today we discuss how the seed of the spirit is sown in us, how it is conceived and born in us.

23. You said before that the spirit begins as a seed in us and this seed is the word of God. Can you elaborate on this, particularly how the seed of God’s word is implanted in us?

Yes, as we learned in number 12 of this Primer, the spirit has a seed, just like the plants, animals, and human beings. And this seed is the word of God and also the seed of the kingdom of God within us. This seed is normally planted in us through preaching. As the Decree on the Mission Activity of the Church of Vatican Council II says, “The chief means of the planting referred to is the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

(These discussions are from a Christian perspective because I am a Christian, but I do not exclude the possibility that writers of other faiths can also express these truths using their own Scriptures and beliefs.)

It is most wonderful that we find similarities between our physical world and the spiritual world. This enables us to learn of spiritual realities through physical realities, those that we see with our eyes and perceive with our other senses.

In the physical world the seed of the human being comes from the human male. The egg is in the human female. The egg is fertilized by the seed or sperm of the male. In a similar way the egg of the spirit is already in us. It waits to be fertilized by the seed of the spirit, which is the Word of God, and which is planted in us by the preaching of the Gospel or Good News of Jesus Christ.

When the Word of God is preached to us, we notice a certain attraction to that Word. This is the moment when the Word is implanted in us. Just like in the physical body when the sperm fertilizes the egg, conception takes place, so also in the spiritual world when the Word of God is planted in us by preaching, if we receive this Word with open heart, conception of the Word begins in us. That is why Augustine the Bishop of Hippo in his Sermon 293, 3, said: “we must not lose the word conceived inwardly in our hearts.”

After a certain time of gestation this Word is brought forth as spirit, our spirit, just as in our physical body after more or less nine months a human being is born.

But in the world of the spirit the gestation is not measured by the same number of months. Each has his/her own unique length of gestation of the Word in him/her. Some may even take years after the conception of the Word before the spirit of that person is born.

24. How do we know that the spirit is already born in us?

We know this when we are already able to understand the Word of God and are able to pray with meaning. Some Christians say that this birth happens during baptism. Yes, to a certain extent it happens there, but it happens there as a mystery, as a hidden act of God through the ministers. We have to actualize this when we grow.

Here are beautiful words from Leo the Great, Bishop of Rome, in his Letter 31: “But through this wonderful blending the mystery of new birth shone upon us, so that through the same Spirit by whom Christ was conceived and brought forth we too might be born again in a spiritual birth; and in consequence the evangelist declares the faithful to have been born not of blood, nor of the desire of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Notice what Leo says, “spiritual birth”. Our first birth is physical birth. Then when the Word of God has been conceived in us and born in us, we undergo this spiritual birth. We are born as spirit.

Thus the spirit is born in us. As Jesus said in John 3:6, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

Tomorrow our topic is how the spirit in us grows and matures.

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Here are my other blogs which may be of help to you:

http://bit.ly/spiritworld for knowing more about spirituality or spiritual realities

http://bit.ly/alterhealthcare for your health

http://bit.ly/novotrends for learning about the new trends around us

http://bit.ly/bepaidonline for earning some income from the Internet

Here are your links to download the e-books for FREE. To download a copy of A NEW CHRIST by Wallace D. Wattles click this website http://bit.ly/anewchrist. To download a free copy of A NEW EARTH by Eckhart Tolle click this website http://bit.ly/ebookanewearth. I hope that you enjoy reading these free e-books and profit much from them, as I have also profited greatly from them.

A Primer on Spiritual Development (Part 5)

Yesterday the meaning of “development” in the phrase “spiritual development” was discussed. Development is the uncovering of the seed of the spirit in us.

Now we discuss more about this seed and begin showing the relevance of our topic to our everyday life.

14. Yes, Jesus said that in Luke 8:11 but he was referring to the kingdom of God. He was not talking about the spirit. Do you mean to say that seed of the kingdom of God is also the seed of the spirit?

Yes, the seed of the kingdom of God is also the seed of the spirit. For the kingdom of God is his spirit, wherever his spirit reigns. That is why Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). The spirit is within us.

And that is why when the spirit is born in us we enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:5-6). Notice what Jesus says in the sixth verse. What is born of the flesh is flesh, what is born of the spirit is spirit. The seed of our human father is the seed of the flesh. Through this seed we were born into this world, a being with flesh. The seed of the spirit is the word of God. Through this seed we are born as spirit into the kingdom of God. That is why verse 5 says we enter into the kingdom of God when we are born of the spirit. The kingdom of God, therefore, is a kingdom of spirits.

15. But why are we discussing these things now? What is the relevance of all this discussion in our daily lives? Maybe what we need more is economic or financial development because our need now is money to buy what we need such as food, clothing, shelter, medicines, education and other things?

Yes, most people think that what they need is money. With money they can buy what they need, such as food, and with money they can buy what they want, such as a beautiful house, a nice car, etc.

But paradoxically (that is, it sounds like a contradiction) most people are poor materially, are poor financially and poor in many other senses of the word “poor” because they have not developed spiritually. They do not realize that the things we see (such as money) come from things we do not see (such as the spirit). Hebrews 11:3 says, “By faith we understand that the world was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made out of things which do not appear.”

A long time ago Jesus knew about this objection in the question above. That is why he said in Matthew 6:31-33, “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles (non-Jews, who do not know the real God) seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well”. And we said above that the kingdom of God is the spirit of God. So seek first the spirit of God, develop this spirit of God, and what you need will be given to you.

Tomorrow we rest. When we resume on Sunday we shall discuss the relevance of spiritual development to our personal and social life.

Click Here!

Here are my other blogs which may be of help to you:

http://bit.ly/spiritworld for knowing more about spirituality or spiritual realities

http://bit.ly/alterhealthcare for your health

http://bit.ly/novotrends for learning about the new trends around us

http://bit.ly/bepaidonline for earning some income from the Internet

Here are your links to download the e-books for FREE. To download a copy of A NEW CHRIST by Wallace D. Wattles click this website http://bit.ly/anewchrist. To download a free copy of A NEW EARTH by Eckhart Tolle click this website http://bit.ly/ebookanewearth. I hope that you enjoy reading these free e-books and profit much from them, as I have also profited greatly from them.

A Primer on Spiritual Development (Part 4)

Yesterday we learned why most people think that human beings are composed only of body and soul.

Today we continue our primer on spiritual development. Our topic is on the meaning of “development” as applied to spiritual development.

10. You have already explained something about the spirit. This topic is about the development of the spirit. What do you mean by “development” in the phrase “spiritual development”?

The root meaning of development is uncovering. Notice that the word has the letters “velo”, which sounds like “veil”. “To de-velo” or “de-velop,” therefore, means “to take away the velo, the veil, to uncover, to unwrap.”

Development, then, means the result or act or state whereby uncovering is done.

When this uncovering is done we discover the real spirit. Then the spirit can grow, can uncover its potentialities. It can fly. It can fill the world.

11. Your meaning of development is interesting. It reminds us of planting seed in the ground and covering it with soil. The development of this seed involves the gradual growth of the seed upward taking away the soil which covers it. Does something similar happens in spiritual development?

Exactly. In spiritual development the seed of the spirit is planted in us. Then this seed grows uncovering that which covers it, our human ideas, actions and our environment. As this spirit grows its effects become more and more visible (since we cannot see the spirit itself, only its effects, just as we cannot see air or wind itself, only its effects).

12. Now, it is getting more interesting. Do you mean to say that the spirit has a seed just as a plant or animal or a human being has a seed?

Yes, the spirit has a seed, just like the plants, animals, and human beings.

13. And what is this seed? Where can we get it?

This seed is the word of God. And we get this seed from the Scriptures, because these contain the word of God.

In Luke 8:11 Jesus said, “The seed is the word of God.”

Tomorrow we will explain more about this seed of the spirit and the relevance of spiritual development in our life.

Click Here!

Here are my other blogs which may be of help to you:

http://bit.ly/spiritworld for knowing more about spirituality or spiritual realities

http://bit.ly/alterhealthcare for your health

http://bit.ly/novotrends for learning about the new trends around us

http://bit.ly/bepaidonline for earning some income from the Internet

Here are your links to download the e-books for FREE. To download a copy of A NEW CHRIST by Wallace D. Wattles click this website http://bit.ly/anewchrist. To download a free copy of A NEW EARTH by Eckhart Tolle click this website http://bit.ly/ebookanewearth. I hope that you enjoy reading these free e-books and profit much from them, as I have also profited greatly from them.