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Humility: The Six Hidden Joys
Humility is a hard sell these days. Actually, it’s never been on anyone’s top ten list of fun character traits to develop. But pride is the enemy of all happiness, I believe. By pride, I don’t mean self-esteem. The confusing of the two to the detriment of both is a popular topic for women’s faith blogs, but holding oneself as precious in the eyes of the Lord is necessary to holding other people precious as well. Pride, unlike self-esteem, has a chilly heart. The problem with pride is that it needs to be constantly sustained at the expense of others. The art of comparing ourselves with others assumes that we…
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Spiritual Maturity: An Attempt at Definition
Spiritual maturity is impossible to measure. I know. I have tried. When I worked for a small Christian liberal arts university, we wanted to test whether our students gained anything from all the spiritual formation groups, Bible courses, and chapels. I heard other Christian schools were trying to develop similar rubrics, but I never heard of a particularly successful measure. Measuring spiritual maturity is not like measuring knowledge. You can’t simply pass a test or write a paper. In fact, a fair amount of disagreement exists about spiritual maturity. I think one might need to possess some to recognize it, but I hate even to nail that down. After all,…
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The Armor of God: Are You Wearing the Right Kind?
Knights in gleaming armor mounted on mighty steeds, banners whipping in the wind as they gallop to the top of the hill before the barbarian armies, await the clash and toil of war, creating a vivid picture of manliness and courage. Literature treats us to visions of noble kings and their valiant knights assembled, prepared to fight for honor and glory. So thrilling and yet, sorry to say, as followers of Christ, we must strip off that splendid get-up and don the much simpler, more humble armor of Christ. We forsake old life of pride and begin a new one, where we are mighty in the spirit but lowly in…
Healing Through Art & Words
