I appreciate when I can learn new things from fantastic people by what they say or what they write. I read one article that talk about us taking responsibility for our own spirituality. I thought I would expand upon that topic in today’s teaching embellishments blog. I hope today’s topic can be of use to youth ministries, family counselors, family devotionals and home evenings.

Many people may have played the cup of flour game

1. Pack a bunch of flour tightly to a cup.
2. Place the cup on a plate then remove the cup so that you have the mound of flour in the mold of the cup.
3. Place in dime my on the top of the flour structure.
4. Now take turns as a family or class of cutting away parts of the flour structure with a butter knife. Cut enough to remove the flour, but not compromised foundation of the dime. As more and more flour gets cut away and moved away from the center of the plate. The pedestal with the dime becomes more and more narrow. Eventually one cut will be made too close to the foundation and the dime will fall.
5. Normally the person who dropped the dime has to go after it with their mouth, thus making the whole face covered with flowers. But for the sake of this lesson. The idea is cutting away our carnal selves to become more spiritual, so that what remains is the type of person that Christ’s asked us to be. To be in all aspects Christian.

Here are some ideas of how I can improve in this area:

1. I see something I need to improve on. Then I work on improving that particular thing. One example, my personal life is that sometimes I would pray without kneeling just before been when I was really tired. I heard a talk talked about the reasons of why we kneeled before God is to show humility and as a token respect. Hearing that observation motivated me to make more conscious effort to kneel when praying.
2. Seek out various ways and sources of things that inspire us. That means avoiding things that would maybe take away the spirit. For example, watching a movie of violence, sex and swearing may not make me feel charitable are compassionate. Watching a movie or reading books or listening to good music may inspire me, as well as make me feel happy.
3. Often things easier to have a bunch of friends to help us with it or family members when we share a similar goal. I had a friend who was preparing for marathon so we would sometimes walk together in the mornings. The same could be done in the achieving other goals. I can make more of an effort to associate with people that are doing activities to help other people inside and outside my church.
4. Sometimes I find that there are books or presentations that can help me gain better insight on the Scriptures by scholars or inspired individuals who have learned and studied the Scriptures. I can also ask God for the inspiration to help me relate the Scriptures to my personal life. Once someone suggested that we could read the Scriptures, we insert our names so that the verses become more personalized. Another good way to understand the Scriptures as may be learn more about the time period and culture of the people, so we can make an interpretation of what is being said. I’m told, a lot of the book of Isaiah is written in poetic verse using the patterns favored by the Israelites. If I make an effort to understand some of those poetic patterns, my understanding Isaiah may improve more. Educational classes in Sunday school can help me understand the Scriptures. This is one of the great reasons going to church so that we can hear other people’s observations and enlightenment of the gospel
5. If you have a close friend and confidant. In your conversations on the surface level of more in depth? When we pray to God. One way to help our specialty would be to have a real conversation. Sometimes I’m so busy praying to God, I don’t give God the chance to get a word in edgewise with the promptings of the spirit. This could be an area. Many of us can improve on.

These are just a few ideas on the topic taking responsibility for our own spirituality. If you have more to share on this topic, please do so in the comment section of this blog. Thanks