I heard a sermon recently about how we can't judge our spiritual growth by looking at
1.) the "absence" of sin
2.) spiritual activity (ie. reading the bible, prayer, corporate christian meetings, giving to the poor etc.)
because 1. we always sin, but just don't see it. The closer we get to God, the more sin we see. Therefore looking at the "absence" of certain sins is not a way to measure spiritual growth
#2--spiritual activity just measures our spiritual discipline, which is a good thing to have, but it doesn't measure our heart, which is what God looks at. Sometimes, even we ourselves are not able to judge our own hearts.
So, instead, we should look at things that reflect our heart's condition. The pastor gave some examples like: a.) do we care about the things that Jesus cares about? ex. When we hear of people being oppressed unjustly, does it move us like it would move Jesus? ... do we love the things that Jesus loves and hate the things that He hates?
Another indicator of spiritual growth that the pastor mentioned:
b.) hearing His voice more.
c.) fruit of the spirit,--but this is hard to measure since, if we are really growing in love, we would probably be the last one to notice it
d.)if you are finding it easier to give (not just money, but time, love, etc.)
e.) an increasing awareness of our distance from God--because this means that we are getting closer to God and see more of our faults
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Risking for God? Another sermon I listened to on the bus back to NJ
If Jesus turned out to be a myth, what would we would we have lost?--heaven, yes, but what about in our current lives. What are we investing in God? How much time would we have lost? How much of our heart and desires would be lost?
How about school? If college turned out to be a myth, and companies decided that college education was worthless and they would only hire high school grads from now on, what would we have lost?
and which would be the greater loss in our hearts?
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Recently I have been growing more and more in love with my comfort zone. I'm clinging on to a comfortable life, a secure future, people I know well, cultures I'm familiar with, cities with a high education level, cities with great ethnic diversity, etc. All these things I have grown up with and am used to. If God called me to leave my land, my people, my culture, and everything I am comfortable with, would I do it? If God called me to Him, would I really go?--or would I only go to Him if it is convenient, if it is easy to go to Him because everyone around me also seeks Him. ?
Is God truly the source of my joy, or is the loving environment I'm placed in the source of my joy? Is God truly the love of my life, my Hope, my Rock?
