Month: November 2018

How’s Your Spirit Doing?

So what does a healthy spirit look like? What’s some language we could use to talk about how our spirit is doing?

Since the YMCA is about putting Christian principles into practice for a healthy spirit, mind and body, what are some Scriptures we could use to guide our search on words to use to figure out how our spirit is doing?

Check out these examples of how a healthy spirit is described and embodied in everyday life.

Ask someone how they are doing, and we have standard answers: Fine. Good! Not bad. Ok. Hanging in there.

It’s pretty easy to talk about how your body is doing – we can chat for quite a while on aches and pains, surgeries and sickness, weight and appearances.

Ask someone what they are thinking about, what their plans are, what’s on their mind, and an answer is not hard to provide.

But ask someone, “How is your spirit doing?” and you’ll likely create an awkward silence.

It’s just not a question that gets asked.

But in the YMCA, our mission is centered around building a healthy spirit, mind and body for all.

So what does a healthy spirit look like? What’s some language we could use to talk about how our spirit is doing?

Since the YMCA is about putting Christian principles into practice, here are some Scriptures we could use to guide our search on words to use to figure out how our spirit is doing:

  • Gospel According to Luke, 1:46-47 And Mary said: “My soul exalts the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.”
  • Luke 23:46 And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last.
  • Second Letter to Timothy, 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power and love and discipline.” – Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus
  • Psalm 34:18 “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
  • Psalm 51:17 “My sacrifice is a humble spirit, O God; you will not reject a humble and repentant heart.”
  • Ecclesiastes 7:8 “The end of a matter is better than its beginning; Patience of spirit is better than a prideful spirit.”

Based on this small selection, here are some words we can use to answer the question of “How’s your spirit doing?”

You could say, I’m happy and full of joy.

You could talk about people or projects you are committed to.

You could be vulnerable and describe your lack of courage and confidence, or share about your strengths, your passions, and self-control.

You could describe the despair within you in response to the brokenness of the world around you, or of your own personal failings.

You could be courageous and talk about the wrongs you’ve committed and how you’ve tried to make amends.

Finally, you could let them know how easily you can wait for what you want.

Does that help?

It helps me give some language to how my spirit is doing. Am I easily irritable? That’s a spirit thing. Am I constantly disappointed and discouraged? That’s my spirit. Am I frustrated with others? That’s my spirit.

Pay attention to your spirit.

Give yourself time to breathe deeply and slowly.

Let your spirit rest by being alone to reflect on your blessings. Get some sleep. Build margins into your schedule to play and pray.

Laugh at yourself, encourage everyone around you more often.

Let go of grudges and slights quicker, stay focused on making amends more authentically.

As Christians, we are called to solidarity in our spirit with the Spirit of Christ. Paying attention to the spirit of Christ within us is also the way to build unity with other Christians.

It’s through the Spirit of Jesus Christ that we can humbly and patiently embody the power of God’s love and justice in our world together.

We want his strength to strengthen us, his love to empower our love for others, his healing to flow through our spirit, his courage to encourage us to love, serve and care for all – friends, family, and enemies.

How’s your spirit doing?

Patient or prideful?

Courageous or unconfident?

Humbly happy or angrily resentful?

Thankful or unforgiving?

Now, try asking yourself:

How’s my spirit doing?

 

How Powerful Are You?

Imagine yourself being the most powerful person on the planet.

What would you do with your great power for the world?

If you could do anything with your power, what would you do for your friends and family?

And if you were filled with immense power, what would you do to your enemies, to those that threaten you, or have actually brought suffering upon you and those you love?

Most of us have more personal power than we realize.

We don’t realize what kind of powers we have, nor do we comprehend how we are affecting those around us through our power.

Power is the capacity and ability to get things done, to influence others and affect their lives.

How do people develop personal power?

Some people have and develop a powerful spirit or personality that they use to get what they want or to get others to act.

Some people have and develop a powerful mind and intellect that they use to get things done with or through others.

Some people have and develop a powerful body through beauty and strength to get others to do what they want.

Any combination of this power in spirit, mind, body is true of each of us. We all find ways to use and develop whatever natural power we have been given to influence our surroundings to our favor.

We use the power of our personality, our smarts, our appearance and talents in ways that primarily benefit ourselves but also ideally benefit those connected to us.

Most people have never done a power-inventory, taking stock of what kind of influence they have in spirit, mind, and body. It’s hard to quantify.

But there is a way to measure it – through its effect on others.

Do the people around you grow in gratitude and dignity?

Does their personal power expand? Do creativity and freedom flourish?

Are people becoming more patient and kind because of how you use your power?

Does mercy prevail? Do commitment, faithfulness, and loyalty grow stronger?

Or does the opposite of any of this grow in others like malignant cancer because of how you use your power?

For Christians, the power of God the Father and Creator of the heavens and earth, evidenced in the resurrection of the crucified Lord Jesus Christ, is within us through the Holy Spirit.

Christians in community, as part of the church, which is the body of Christ Jesus on earth, are the most powerful people in the universe. 

How are Christians using their power – does it imitate how Christ used his power?

Saint Paul writes to Christians living in and around Ephesus, which was the most powerful city of the Roman Empire at the time. It was a combination of New York City as a political, financial, and arts powerhouse, but also like Chicago with its agricultural and labor power, and also like Los Angeles with its diversity, climate, and personality.

Ephesian Christians were tempted to accumulate great power through many different sources and to use it for their own gain and that of the Empire.

But Paul has a different vision for them:

“I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you his Spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which God has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of the Lord’s power for us who believe, according to the working of God’s great power.

God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.

And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”
[Letter to the Ephesians, 1.17-23 / NRSV]

For Christians, we see in Christ Jesus the most powerful man ever to walk the earth. We read about how Jesus used his immensely great power in the New Testament.

Christ Jesus leveraged his power in such a way that the poor in spirit were blessed and those who mourned were comforted.

His peacemaking power threatened the political and economic authority of the elites who dominated the region, keeping the people of the land destitute.

Jesus used his power to forgive enemies, to welcome outcasts, to challenge corruption, to foster reconciliation, and advocate for justice.

Jesus poured out his power into others, empowering them to proclaim good news and bring healing to any who wanted it.

Jesus demonstrated sacrificial power, risking his life in order to help set others free. It was atoning, taking on the sins and afflictions of humanity, redeeming humans corrupted by power and restoring us with a new purpose for a new kind of community in the world.

How powerful are you? How are you using your power in the world? In your community? 

If you could become part of the most powerful body of people in the world, what would you want to see accomplished?