I deliberated for a while of whether or not it made since to include a separate section on “Spiritual Growth,” because for me it encompasses and in a way oversees ultimate Emotional Growth and Relational Growth.
I considered nestling Spiritual Growth within Emotional Growth, as seeking growth at the deepest depths of our emotions, or of that part of our souls which seems possibly able to govern our emotions (including but likely more than just our intellect).
For Relational Growth, I considered including this section in following with various other relational sections such as with friends, family, spouse, children…to extend then to include that most significant relationship we may have (or not have) with God Himself.
(Really, our Physical Well-being could simply be nestled in along with the rest as well, as I believe we have been deliberately made by our Maker with bodies to somehow embody–in an intricately interconnected way–our Emotional and Relational and Spiritual Selves.)
Since I ultimately believe that we are created for relationship–that we are relational beings at heart–then our wholeness and “emotional health” necessarily affects and is affected by the health of our most significant relationships.
At the same time, no human being is perfect, and therefore our human relationships are apt to fail us if/whenever held up to the standard of perfect, ever-present, never-ceasing love that our hearts all seem to crave and need to be truly full. Even when we have found the most wonderful love and grace within our human relationships to be able to embrace and cover over our imperfections, there is then our mortality to deal with — the greater the love, the deeper the grief we will then need the strength from somewhere else to face…
In my personal pursuit of wholeness in the deepest sense, and in my seeking to define this pursuit so as to figure out how to better communicate it to others, I have found no stronger foundation for true wholeness than my faith in Jesus Christ’s once-and-for-all provision for a relationship with God as my Heavenly Father, my Heavenly Daddy…
As I had previously come to understand and hold to the fact that “relationships are key to life,” I have come to understand additionally that if a relationship with God is truly possible, then no other human relationship could ever be more significant than the status of our relationship with Him, whether good, bad, lukewarm, misinformed or mislead, or nonexistent.
If we were made for this relationship with God because He had planned all along for this relationship to be made possible–if something in our hearts and our souls were purposefully and healthily created to crave a love as unconditional and all-knowing and all-powerful and always-forever-present as only the love of God Himself could be– then no human relationship could ever prove an adequate substitution…
And so, while it may sometimes seem that certain exercises, such as applying various spiritual disciplines (i.e. Bible Study), to seek in knowing and growing in knowing God (not only by head, but also by heart and spirit), may not be so readily apparent in how they are relevant to each of our own personal growth goals in our present circumstances, ultimately nothing could be more relevant and of value to our journeys here on earth, and into eternity!
QUESTIONS ABOUT CHRISTIANITY?
I found a really good site with short videos (as well as written versions to read) answering all sorts of questions about the Christian faith. While I have been asked previously to consider making some videos myself, since this is already out there, I encourage you to take a look (and I’ll keep my eye out for other really great sites and videos etc. as well to share):