Relational Spirituality

sheep_tree_500In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will guide your paths. Proverbs 3: 6.

It is a bit of a misrepresentation to say my life is wholly given to Christ as I continue withholding part, if not all of it from Him.

I claim to be fully integrated, to be one in Christ Jesus, without beginning to grasp, let alone incorporate Him into my work or family or interests. As a garden needs a gardener, so I need the comforter, God’s own Spirit, to oversee my renovation into a sacred space for God. When I open my body to be a sanctuary for God’s Spirit, He can take this potholed, graveled life and transform my thoughts into branches of his word and my actions into the fruit of his love.

Wholly giving myself to God means that sometimes the gardener wants to dig deeper in my heart than I feel comfortable with, or He chooses to cultivate within me a type of fruit I am not especially keen on. Whatever the issue, several times each day I am tempted to retake part of myself. I conveniently assure myself I am the one who can best attend to the weeding, reseeding, watering, and general maintenance. Invariably, more and more of my life is taken over by my whims and predilections, and less of it is in the hands of the Holy Spirit. Soon what was once a vibrant garden decays into an array of desiccated plants--a desert.

Every day I make choices about who will be the gardener of the moments in my life. Holistic Spirituality is about choosing God’s Spirit, willfully integrating all that I am into the purpose of God’s love. If I live to show God’s glory through every particle of my being, then I need His gardener tending to my soul.

Or didn't you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don't you see that you can't live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Reflections to Consider

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Relational Publications

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Relational Audio & Video

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Publications

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Relational Music

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Music

  • Jesus be the centre

    Center is a song that speaks of the essence of our life in Christ, and echoes the words the Christ Read More
  • I Lift My Hands

    A powerful hymn of adoration and praise Arkansas Gospel Mass Choir. This succinctly captures the joy of knowing our savior. Read More
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Relational Reflection

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Audio & Video

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Favorites

  • Transforming this World: The Hope of Glory by NT Wright +

    Wright confronts the perspective that this world doesn’t matter, and that we live only to be in heaven. He shows Read More
  • What is Good in a World that Defies Hope: a talk by NT Wright +

    This is the second part of three talks by NT Wright at Harvard University in November, 2008 on the topic Read More
  • The Stream, the Lake and the River: NT Wright +

      Acts 2.1-21; John 7.37-39; a sermon at the Eucharist on the Feast of Pentecost, 11 May 2008, by the Read More
  • Jesus in the Perfect Storm by NT Wright +

    Zechariah 9.9-17; Luke 19.28-48; A sermon for Palm Sunday, April 17, 2011, In the University Chapel of St Salvator, St Read More
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Hidden Blessings

  • Christ is a Great Savior: a review of the movie Amazing Grace +

    Amazing Grace is a historical drama about William Wilberforce who was elected to British Parliament at the age of 21 Read More
  • Wilberforce, Hollywood's Amazing Grace, Charlotte Allen +

    William Wilberforce's relentless campaign eventually led the British Parliament to ban the slave trade, in 1807, and to pass a Read More
  • Making Beauty out of Ugly Things: Grace by U2 +

    Grace, she takes the blame She covers the shame Removes the stain It could be her name Grace, she carries Read More
  • The True Nature of Grace and Love: a movie review of the Soloist +

    The 2009 movie The Soloist is based on a book by the same name, written by Los Angeles Times columnist Read More
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