Written by Renovare, an organization developed by Richard Foster to support spiritual development. This is an excerpt from a class called “Inside Out.”
You are a spiritual being. You have an intangible center that shapes how you see the world and yourself, directs your choices, and guides your actions. This is the human spirit, sometimes called the “will” or the “heart.” It is what makes you, you. And it is why humans are the only creatures on earth made in the image of God. Your ability to choose, your capacity to connect with God and others, and what you desire all flow from your spirit. Richard Foster said, “It is the radical source of our life; the stream of actions and influences and contributions we make to our shared, visible world and its history.” In other words, how your spirit is formed affects everything in your life… A truly good, full existence starts with making Jesus Christ the primary shaping influence on the inner life. Why Jesus? The disciple Peter said it well: “to whom else would we go?” No one can match Jesus’ wisdom about life’s most important questions. And he lived what he taught—he was patient, compassionate, self-giving, and completely in sync with God’s law of love. Jesus is the perfect picture of a well-formed human spirit. But more than just a past good example, Jesus is a present reality. He is alive, and his Spirit is available to you as an ever-present teacher and guide. He has divine power— far greater than any other source—to shape you from the inside out. You can’t escape every negative influence, but you can place your spirit in the care of One who outshines the rest. Giving Christ this place of influence is crucial if we want to become people who inhabit our unique place and time with the quality of life he had, flowing from the kind of well-formed center he had.
Prayer:
Written by Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941), a writer in spirituality.
Let our lives run to your embrace … and breathe the breath of eternity. O God Supreme! Most secret and most present, most beautiful and strong. Constant yet incomprehensible, changeless yet changing all! What can I say, my God, my Life, my Holy Joy … You are the only reality. Amen.
Pathways Press.com 