This paper will discuss the important points of spiritual maturity. Throughout the class, I learn many things that in the end, lead back to my spiritual maturity in Christ. This paper will elaborate on the process of spiritual maturity in the life of believers. During my learning, I did some reflections on what I have learned in the class. I believe that one important lesson that I learn from this class is maturing in my spiritual journey with Christ by learning to love God and with others. Overall, I enjoyed my time attending this class, and I learn so much from every meeting that I had.
The True Meaning of Spiritual Maturity
Based on what I have learned in class from doing the readings and the assignments, I notice that the essential
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I learn that from this class, I am priceless that makes God have to give heaven 's best asset, which is the Son, Jesus Christ to die for me on the cross. After I received this revelation, I realize that every people matter in God 's eyes. As the follower of Christ, I cannot stop from showing the goodness of God 's love in my life to others (believer or unbeliever), because the moment I stop at displaying God 's love in my life to others, then I started to become like the unsalted Christian. Spiritual maturity also talks about enjoying my relationship with God and how could I influence others with God 's love in me by doing an intentional and significant action that could become the evidence of God 's love in my life. In other words, when God 's love started to invade my life, I would become contagious …show more content…
I would say, I have struggled a lot with being vulnerable to other people. This issue has kept me from letting more people come into my life. I notice that it 's all happened because I did not know how perfect I was in God’s eyes that make me free from the mentality of always have to prove something to others. I want to learn that sometimes, to acknowledge that “I was not okay” or to say “sorry” first to others are normal and acceptable. Nothing wrong with being vulnerable to others. I want to see progress in this area. The second area in my life that I want to see some progress is I want to become more grateful. Sometimes, I could get trapped in my mind by making a comparison to other people’s life. I could be so lost in my imagination and started to live with the “what if…” questions. I want to see progress in this area, especially after I have learned about spiritual maturity throughout this class. I want to become a person that is always giving thanks to God no matter what happened in my life.
Conclusion
In the end, spiritual maturity talks about my perspective first that leads to a change in my behavior. Spiritual maturity concerned more on the inside than outside. I learn that in my journey of following Christ, spiritual maturity is one of
The goal of this book review on Engaging God’s World written by Cornelius Plantinga Jr. is to examine his ideas on redemption, vocation in the Kingdom of God, and to explore his thoughts on Christian education as described in the book’s epilogue. Cornelius Plantinga Jr. discusses several key notes regarding redemption, such as salvation. Vocation in the Kingdom of God is another subject he touches on in relation to the way God works within His Kingdom connecting us to the ‘King of Kings’ as his ambassadors on earth. Lastly, Plantinga explains his view on how Christian education is important to sustain ourselves, earth now, and the New Earth.
Faith plays a pivotal role in our construction of religion. The work of Dr. Sharon Parks analyzes faith development throughout one’s life span but pays special attention to emerging adulthood. Dr. Parks has an extensive academic career which incorporates her attendance of Princeton University’s theological seminary. As well as her attendance of Harvard University’s divinity school where she obtained her doctorate. Through her extensive research in areas such as “developmental psychology, religion, theology, leadership and ethics” (Service Resources, 2014) Parks is able to focus her work on faith development. Her work is influenced by theorists such as Erickson, Piaget, Perry and Levinson but primarily it is based off of Fowlers work in faith development. Her background in teaching and counseling has allowed her close access to seeing students during this important portion of their lives.
Engagement with others is the most fertile ground for spiritual growth. Yet, salvation cannot come through individual questing nor good works in the community of the world alone. Salvation can only come when the journey and the work become
Equally important, the author describes the Christian life as a “dynamic faith journey” (p.224) which remind us that is not just a linear process but a never-ending lifestyle that is constantly changing. It is like the worldview, described in Why College Matters to God, “continuously subject to growth and revision as we encounter new people, ideas, and experiences” (Ostrander, 2012, p. 28). That is why she claims that even during the adulthood people can keep building their knowledge in a different but excellent way. Adults have built their personal perspectives of situations in life, so she emphasizes that during this process, there are going to exist changes and that is how people acquire new information. That is why Marmon reaffirms: “Adult learning is tricky; grown men and women often must unlearn
In Junior and Senior year I was put into a alternative education class so it would be easier for me to speak and I wouldn 't have anxiety. That decision was the best decision. There were 8 kids in the class instead of 35. It got easier and easier for me to speak. I can now voice my own opinion but still be afraid. I don’t really care if people are quirky and I have my flaws. People who truly care about me will look past them. I now help people who are struggling with the same things I went through, because I know what is was like and I don’t want them to go throw the pain and suffering I went through. I try to help others overcome fear of judgment like I had to
Snodgrass, J., & Sorajjakool, S. (2011). Spirituality in older adulthood: Existential meaning,productivity, and life events. Pastoral Psychology, 60, 85-94. doi: 10.1007/s11089-010-0282-y
Secondly, the Church can insist on its identity as an inter-generational community. It can do this structurally, by refusing to segment congregations by age, and temperamentally, by recovering a biblical respect for maturity and rejecting popular culture’s infantilism, thereby offering to children a goal of growing up. Popular culture exalts perpetual adolescence.
So I would say being a pastor or church leader is the epitome of transformative learning. Throughout the Chapter I the authors make reference to Mezirow 's (1991) Transformative Dimensions of Adult Learning and Fostering Critical Reflections in Adulthood (Mezirow and Associates.) These earlier textbooks weighed heavily upon psychotherapy, psychology, sociology and philosophy. It is Mezirow that opines that meaning exists within the individual person rather than in an external form such as a book. And the meaning we develop is crafted and shaped by human interaction and experience.
In this paper two topic from the Psychology and Spirituality course will be discussed in regards to spirituality and their influence on my personal life. I will examine how I have grown and what I have learned from the week on Spring Lake ranch and how I wish to continue moving forward in my attempt to be spiritual and build a closer relationship to God.
Sometimes, we faith followers make jokes about shame in our religions. Shame in the church is a common experience for many church members. Though, not every church has this sort of approach in discipleship and behavioral training. Shame has long been a pronounced interest to me. Most church leaders want the church to be a place of hope and inspiration, but some of us have experienced a tremendous amount of shame, also. Growing up within a very conservative John Wesley style holiness church taught me some life-giving valuable faith lessons. We were taught incredible lessons of living one?s life in a way that reflects one?s values and belief system and being empowered to express such values to others. Great lessons in humility and giving all glory to God abound. The church taught a person is best when honoring a holy lifestyle as best able on Earth, including prayer,
The desire to be accepted is prevalent among youth today. In a world that is currently suffering from a famine of love that is intended to be given to today’s youth, more and more we see students that desire to be accepted, yet feel accepted by no one. Because of this we see them decide to reach out, and as they do they become accepted into a group that is not a good influence on them, or simply is wasting their time. Here we will look at what exactly the bible tells us in the issue of acceptance, and how it would look in the average youth ministry today. We will then look into how we will follow up with students past their fist visit and finally what utilizing the idea of acceptance to its full potential will do for a ministry.
In today’s society, there are a large number of individuals who are on the pursuit for spiritual development that is consistent with their “belief that spirituality is vital for growth and essential for dealing with life’s problems” (Morrison, Clutter, Pritchett, & Demmitt, 2009). Even moreso it’s no surprise to learn about the movement among the vast number of clients seeking to address concerns of spirituality within their counseling sessions.
I’d like to state the most obvious observation that I’ve made about spiritual formation; that is that I will always need to be seeking for ways to nurture my personal spirituality throughout my life. I know that to most people this may sound like a “duh” statement, but for me it has truly become a reality and one that I must admit I have been struggling to embrace. I was brought up in a church that, like most traditional churches, stayed happy living in the “comfort zone” of their Christianity. They took everything that the Bible said at face value without digging in to find out why they believed what they believed. I had never been challenged to look deeper into the text. In the past few years I have felt the need to tunnel out of this cave of what I feel is best labeled “Christian ignorance”. In the process though, I have had to come to terms with letting go of the things that brought me comfort and provided me with what I thought it took to have a close relationship with God. Some of those things were tangible. Most were not. The things that were the least tangible actually ended up being the hardest to let go of.
Christianity is an identity used by people who believe in Christ and worship Christ. Christians around the world have different ways of praising and worship God. A world class Christian refers to the involvement of individuals in spiritual programs. Nelson (1894) emphasizes what Moses wrote, ‘In the beginning God create the heaven and the earth’ (Genesis 1:1). He created man in his image and give the entire good attitude and the ability to survive in this world. He offers us different types of emotional feeling so that man can apply in this moment of life. He gives every single man an assignment to work and that assignment is your passport to eternity. This can be in the form of how you support your Christian church members, how you participate in spiritual activities and also your personal relationship with the Heavenly Father. In this essay the focus will be on how to become a world class Christian. It will also elaborate ways in which an individual can become a successful world class Christian.
Every person is on a journey of spiritual formation (Mulholland, 1993). What 's frightening is how this process can happen with or without our intention. Taking this a level deeper, every human is formed with an innate desire to worship (Warren, 2002). Putting this all in perspective; whether a person intends to or not, they are worshipping someone or something, and in so doing are being formed into the likeness of this person or thing. Knowing this, it is easy to see the importance of spiritual formation on the psychological health of a person. For example: if someone is being formed into the likeness of a demanding spouse, they will quite possibly grow into someone defined by bitterness or feelings of insufficiency. Therefore, it is vital