A Soul's House: Soul Care

A Soul’s House by Dr. J.K. Jones, Jr. (Joplin: College Press Publishing Company, 2023)

Recently, I have been paying much closer attention to my personal spiritual formation than before. That’s not to say that my personal spiritual growth has not been a priority before. It has. It’s just that I have been more aware and more intentional about it than previously in my life.

Perhaps that is because I’m getting older. Or perhaps it has been sparked by some classes I have taken that focus on leadership from a self-awareness and spiritual formation perspective. Either way, I have been pursuing this more and more, and have spent much time in several good books that have helped.

One of those books is A Soul’s House, by J. K. Jones. Jones labels this book as “A Primer for Spiritual Formation,” and it is that, but even more, it is a “conversation” with another book on spiritual formation that has had a profound impact on Jones’ life. Evelyn Underhill wrote The House of the Soul, and this provides the basis for Jones’ discussion.

While I have not read Underhill’s book (it’s on my list), I found that Jones quotes her extensively and helps his readers gain some perspective into Underhill’s insights and his own responses and perspective. I find that very helpful.

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Invest In Your Spirit

Investments You Need To Make For Growth To Happe

In a world that is inundated with the clanging noise of daily life, it can be easy to overlook the most important aspect of our being: our spirit. In the midst of the chaos, investing in our spiritual formation and well-being often takes a backseat. However, just as we invest in wisdom and in our physical health, nurturing our spirit is equally important.

Invest In Your Spirit

The concept of spiritual disciplines is core to Christianity, and has been since the beginning. We must create and maintain practices and habits that cultivate our relationship with God, and help us to become more and more like Christ. Digging through the pages of the Bible, we can find several such practices, and three are worth mentioning specifically.

However, our spiritual formation is of such critical importance that I find it necessary to identify and inspect many more disciplines and practices. For some time, I have been working through many of these disciplines in a series of posts entitled “Establishing Spiritual Disciplines.” Many of these are found in Scripture, and several more come from the rich traditions to be found studying the history of Christianity. All of these can be assets in our desire for spiritual formation.

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The Need For Community

Pursuing Spiritual Formation With Others

Spiritual Disciplines Banner

By nature, I am an introvert. Some may find that hard to believe, but it’s true. I am most inclined to withdraw into myself and avoid connections. It is only through years of practice that I have learned how to engage with others in meaningful and beneficial ways. I have learned to express myself as an extrovert, but even so, there are times when I much prefer the company of a book over anything — or anyone — else.

Community

I often wrestle with myself because of my nature. If God designed us to be in community, why do I have the personality that would prefer solitude over crowds? If it is not good to be alone, and we need one another, why do I withdraw into myself as a protective instinct in order to prevent the pain that comes with relationships and interactions with people? How do I reconcile these warring sides of my own self?

Because of my nature, I have had a hard time really opening myself up to others fully. It seems that when I do, it frequently leads to feelings of betrayal, rejection, frustration, and pain. The knee-jerk reaction is to simply say, “No. I just won’t open myself up to others.” But that’s not the way. That’s not how we are called to live as Christians.

We are called and created to be in community with one another. We are called to invest in one another, and journey with one another as we discover who God wants us to be, and as we journey toward that goal. Simply put, community exists when we connect with others in an authentic way, in order to love, serve, encourage, and support one another as we grow in Christ. This requires that I set aside my introverted nature and become open and transparent with others as I seek to be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29).

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Invest In Health

Investments You Need To Make For Growth To Happen

Last year, I identified four areas in which we should invest in our lives, especially as leaders. The first area I identified was wisdom, which is the ability to gain knowledge, and then put it into practice. The second area where we should make an investment is into our health.

Invest In Health

I have to admit, this is not an area of life where I excel. I often have good intentions, and sometimes, I follow through with them. Most of the time, I don’t. This is an area where I must become more focused and intentional.

Why? Because our physical health has an impact on every other area of life, and when we make our physical health a priority, the effect is almost immediate. Our minds sharpen, our strength grows, our emotions stabilize, our relationships gain strength, and our spiritual life is impacted as well. Taking the time to address this quadrant of life has a tremendous ripple effect into every other area. And frankly, that amazes me every time I stop to consider it.

But the opposite is true, too. When I either neglect my physical side, or when I work it too hard, all of those other areas suffer as well. Taking the time to invest in our health has to be a top priority.

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Worry versus Trust: What Wins?

A Look At Matthew 6:25-34

Worry is something I have long struggled with. I’m a worrier, although I may call it “concern” or “attention” or “caution” or something similar. Whatever I might name it, it needs to be addressed in my life, and Jesus gives us some direct and pointed insights on the topic.

Worry versus Trust: What Wins?

In this passage in Matthew 6, Jesus gives us some direct instructions about worry. There are so many things that take place in our lives that are beyond our control, and worrying about them won’t change a thing. I worry about my wife driving late at night. I worry about my older kids as they travel, as they build and form relationships, and as they seek to live as functional adults.

I worry about my younger kids as they grow into who God has called them to be. I worry about their friends, about how much time they may spend online or playing video games. I worry about their safety and health.

I worry about my job, in my role as a minister. I worry about those I cannot please, no matter what I do. I worry about those who are close to me, and my own influence upon them.

I worry. … A lot.

But Jesus says, “For this reason… do not be worried about your life” (Matthew 6:25). Do not worry. Do not be anxious. Do not dwell on this stuff. The word that Jesus uses here in Greek means “to have the mind distracted.” After all, that’s what worrying is. It’s distraction. It’s focusing on those things that we cannot change instead of what we should be focused on: the one who does have the ability to change things.

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The Importance Of Spiritual Formation

Creating Habits That Will Help You Grow Spiritually

Over the years, I have written several times about the need to develop spiritual disciplines and habits that help with spiritual formation. This is one of the key areas of my own life, and it forms the foundation for spiritual growth.

The Importance Of Spiritual Formation

Developing spiritual practices that transform us is a critically important part of our spiritual growth. Such disciplines, or habits, help us maintain our growth as a priority, and can be a helpful tool for gaining deeper growth and maturity. I have several core disciplines that I have built into my daily routines, or at other frequent intervals. Many of those I have written about in the past here. They have been good companions, old friends even, that have helped me keep my focus on Jesus as I seek to become more and more like him.

For most of my life, I assumed that there were only a few of these disciplines, maybe a couple of dozen, at best. However, I have recently discovered that there are far more such habits that can help me grow than I ever imagined. As I have discovered some new ways of incorporating growth into my life, I have stretched myself by trying some of these new disciplines. Some of them have helped me tremendously; others have not been as beneficial for my life, at the point I am at right now. But who knows? They may be more helpful at a later point in my spiritual journey.

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Establishing Spiritual Disciplines

Creating Habits That Will Foster Spiritual Formation

Growing my faith, my relationship with God, is my top priority. Above all else, my relationship with Christ must come first. Everything else in my life hinges upon this. But in order to do that, you have to develop a series of disciplines that will help you grow and mature in your faith.

Establishing Spiritual Disciplines

As a minister, all too often, I have conversations that center around how to grow and mature in our faith. I have discovered that most people have no idea what to do to deepen their faith. Most of the people I have these conversations with want to deepen their faith, they just aren’t sure how to go about doing that.

As a result, I’ve decided to write a series of posts about spiritual disciplines. These are habits that I believe are necessary to grow in our faith. These are habits that are either prominent in Scripture, or have been proven through the lives of other, spiritually mature believers.

Not everyone grows in the same fashion or speed. What might be a breeze to one person may be a difficult discipline to master for another. But I firmly believe that each of these disciplines play a part in our becoming who God has created us to be.

Over the course of the next few weeks and months, I will be writing a series of posts about these disciplines. Each post (or posts, maybe) will define each discipline, and give some practical ideas on how to implement this effectively in our lives.