We Miss our Way in So Many Ways

I appreciate this quote from Richard Lovelace: “The goal of authentic spirituality is a life which escapes from the closed circle of spiritual self-indulgence, or even self-improvement, to become absorbed in the love of God and other persons.”[1]

We miss our way in so many ways. Even our spirituality and self-improvement can be directed to the wrong ends and by the wrong means. 

When our attention rests primarily on self, instead of Jesus our Savior, innumerable problems result. Notice the Apostle Paul said, “Him [Jesus] we proclaim… that we may present everyone mature in Christ” (Col. 1:28). It is when our mind, heart, affection, and will are drawn to Jesus that we are more and more transformed into His image. 

closed circle of spiritual self-indulgence or self-improvement

Like a Pharisee, we can be so obsessed with ourselves that we miss God and the precious people made in His image. 

In Greek mythology, Narcissus was a handsome young man who fell in love with his own reflection. Narcissus drowned while gazing at his own reflection in the water. We, too, can be dangerously focused on ourselves. 

“Authentic spirituality,” as Lovelace says, escapes the clutches of such navel-gazing to the ideal that God always intended. That is, to be “absorbed in the love of God and other persons.” 

absorbed in the love of God and other persons

Jesus made it so simple. We need simple. Love God. Radically love God with every ounce of your being—heart, soul, mind, and strength. And love others. 

“The substance of real spirituality is love. It is not our love but God’s that moves into our consciousness, warmly affirming that he values and cares for us with infinite concern. But his love also sweeps us away from self-preoccupation into a delight in his unlimited beauty and transcendent glory. It moves us to obey him and leads us to cherish the gifts and graces of others.”[2]

Augustine said, “Love God and do whatever you please: for the soul trained in love to God will do nothing to offend the One who is Beloved.” The gravitational pull of the love of God transforms us.

Notes

[1] Richard F. Lovelace, Renewal As a Way of Life: A Guidebook for Spiritual Growth, 18.

[2] Ibid.