Is there such thing as stages of spirituality?

edited December 1969 in Faith Issues
A few questions:

As one is growing with christ and living with Him day by day in a strong relationship of prayer, he or she becomes more spiritually mature, right? Well is there a stage of doubt, a stage of fear of judgment, a stage of meekness and all of that while growing with christ? Or is everything random? Is there actual stages to tell your growth?

Even better question is how do you know if you are increasing in your spiritualiy or not? And if you are not increasing, does that mean that you are decreasing or stable with your relationship with God?

Well, if I am decreasing how can I catch myself from falling further and grow again?

Please help me with these questions.
Thanks.

Comments

  • 1.there are no clear cut stages because the fact is that everyone is different and we all grow differently physically and spiritually.
    Some people repent because of their love toward God, some repent because of fear of judgement and punishment, and others repent because some event has occurred in their life that allowed them to realize just how little time we have here on earth (accidents etc.)

    2.My priest always tells us that when we read the lives of the saints, we see that the closer the saints get to God, the more they feel that they themselves are sinners and unworthy servants. This echoes the verse "He must increase, but I must decrease."

    3. Pray and fast.

    God Bless and please pray for me
  • Yes. There are stages to our spiritual life. According to the book of proverbs, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." In this stage, you recognize the presence of God and fear the day when you will stand before him and give an account of all your deeds. You recognize the importance of prayer, however, it may not be your favorite thing to do yet. The final stage is similar to that of St. Isaac the Syrian. He says "I no longer fear God, I love him." After feeling the effects of prayer and strife in your spiritual life, you gradually learn to enjoy it and long for it. You've established a relationship with God that can be compared to a friendship. Prayer becomes a conversation with God. Reading the bible can be likened to reading a facebook message from a very dear friend. Therefore, you no longer strive in your spiritual life merely to avoid being cast out of the Kingdom, but you love Christ and want to be with him every moment.


  • That blog post, cleared things up!

    Thank you for your replies.
  • I think there are stages in spiritual life.

    For example; let's take the life of the Prodigal Son.

    He starts off life Close to God, yet this is not authentic. He is close, yet his heart is far.

    He then leaves God, and desires distance from God, and a life of sin. This is another stage.

    He then realizes that he was better off being a servant in his Father's house than the situation he has found himself in. This is another stage.

    He then repents. This is another stage.

    He then returns back to his father.

    So, indeed, he begins close to God, but the authenticity is not there simply because he was physically close to God, but spiritually dead. His heart already had decided that he wanted a life without God "I want my inheritance" - (Inheritance is what we receive when the parents die, we don't receive it when they are alive.. it basically means he wants to live his life without God".

    If I were to continue or imagine his story, I could see or hope to see the following progression:

    The acceptance of other people who were lost and now found by the Prodigal son. He too must learn to accept others who have been forgiven and welcomed back into the bosom of Christ after they have repented. Its another stage.

    Service to others: He then wants to serve God for the love God has shown him. This is indeed another stage of spiritual life. The zealousness in wanting to serve God.

    Again, we can say that even the brother of the prodigal son, out of his jealousy, is close to God, and has always been close to God, but its not authentic either. he too needs to grow.

    Of course there are stages of Spirituality - how else do we grow unless its through stages. Even the Bible says so.

    Saint Paul says (i'm just paraphrasing here) : "... when you were babes, you drank milk, but now you are adults and should be nourished with real food" - so he too is expecting to see these people grow spiritually. They started off as gentiles, and now were baptised. When they were 1st baptised, they drank milk (spiritually). But as time passes, there is indeed some expectation of spiritual growth.

    Even our Lord mentioned this: "There is no greater love than to lay down your life for a friend" .

    So that means that there are indeed stages of love, and the greatest stage is indeed giving your life.

    So, I love you, I can forgive you.

    But, there is a stage of love where I can offer my life for you. You see!??

    Its a stage. Some of us on tasbeha.org are still learning to forgive one another, some of us are praying for those who hurt us but haven't yet forgiven them, and there are some that are literally turning the other cheek and dying for those who hate them.



  • [quote author=ilovesaintmark link=topic=12022.msg142958#msg142958 date=1313026374]
    Yes.


    Yes, but at least I gave references. Slacker!

    lol

    Where you been man?? Good to see u
  • one friend of mine who tried a lot of religions  at 40 years at least took the orthodox he says that only this faith makes him happy cos here he feels real development of personality.
    Fathers say /if you don't  make yourself better today  you are lost/
    But what is this 'better' cos there a lot of nice people from all religions.
  • Read Remember thy first love!
  • [quote author=copticuser20 link=topic=12022.msg143080#msg143080 date=1313157886]
    Read Remember thy first love!


    Who is it written by?
  • Read John Climacus' The Ladder of Diving Ascent.
  • [quote author=CopticStrength link=topic=12022.msg143137#msg143137 date=1313261620]
    [quote author=copticuser20 link=topic=12022.msg143080#msg143080 date=1313157886]
    Read Remember thy first love!


    Who is it written by?


    If I am thinking about the same thing that copticuser20 is thinking about, then I believe the author is Archimandrite Zacharias.
  • [quote author=Unworthy1 link=topic=12022.msg143140#msg143140 date=1313262634]
    [quote author=CopticStrength link=topic=12022.msg143137#msg143137 date=1313261620]
    [quote author=copticuser20 link=topic=12022.msg143080#msg143080 date=1313157886]
    Read Remember thy first love!


    Who is it written by?


    If I am thinking about the same thing that copticuser20 is thinking about, then I believe the author is Archimandrite Zacharias.


    Correct!  I was going to say the same. He identifies 3 main stages.
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