Spirituality or Competition?

At times we can be our own worst enemies, especially if we take our focus away from God and place them squarely on other people. By doing this we have empowered another and have placed ourselves at a disadvantage, in that we have become reliant on others for our self worth.

Spirituality is not based on performance, in other words Faith is not a competition where one has to prove their 'holiness' or demonstrate their knowledge in order to impress others.

For if we embrace this way of thinking then who are we worshipping God? Or man?

When we allow ourselves to become totally dependent on another’s opinion of who we are, then we have sabotaged what true spirituality is, in that we have placed our faith in people and not God.

By placing our faith in people this will start an avalanche of insecurities and low self worth, for man is fickle and what is loved one day can be loathed the next. We lose our sense of the Sacred when we place our need for popularity over and above God's Will for each of us.

To a certain extent we all have that inner need for self preservation, in that it is difficult to face the fact that we are vulnerable and needy. And so we cover-up these needs by portraying ourselves as tough and self sufficient and in need of no one!

There seems to exist in the world today two extremes, many are either too needy for validation from their fellow man, or some give the impression of having it 'all together', both of these extremes are wrong. Mainly because both of these measures nullify God and deny that man's happiness is totally dependent upon the Divine.

For in essence true spirituality is a spilling out of the Love that God has poured into each soul, for God is the Source of all Love. Every good action we take and every good deed we do has its source in the Divine, so the love we share was never ours to begin with but a Gift from the Triune Spirit. God is not mean with His Love, for He gives it generously and gratuitously, to each soul that seeks it. Man is the one who like a child greedily grabs it and wishes to share it with no one.

It is when many become greedy and begin to start measuring their love, as if they were the source of that love the soul then loses its focus on the Divine and becomes self centred. For the level of love we show to others is the extent in which we have opened our heart to the Divine.

This is also where the element of competition enters the spiritual scenario, by focussing on our self and our achievements we fail to give Glory to God and instead place ourselves as all important as if we were our own masterpiece without need of a Creator.

It is this spirit of competition that leads to pride, in that by attempting to prove oneself better than another, many in affect are placing other people below themselves. As if their is a litmus test to prove how 'good' or how 'holy' one is perceived.

God is not choosy in who He loves, for He embraces all and would have all men saved, irrespective of their social standing. It is man who imposes 'conditions' on love and it is also man who measures his love, lest it not be fully appreciated, or returned in equal proportion.

When spirituality and Faith is reduced to a competition, this engenders an air of elitism, and the soul that lives with this folly will become pharisaic in their attempt to shine before all others, as they boast of their great knowledge and abilities.

They need to understand that God has no need for Phil busters, but man has need of God, and the only way God can work within a soul is if that soul humbles itself and realises its nothingness, when compared with the Almighty! For in order for God to pour forth His Grace, He needs a humble, meek and docile soul so that the person may Praise and Glorify the Triune Spirit.

It is the realisation, that in and of ourselves we are nothing; it is God Himself who ennobles the soul by His meritorious act of Loving the soul, despite our nothingness.

When we can love God for who He IS rather than what He gives us, then we come close to living the beatific vision.

Peace of Christ to ALL

Copyright © 2005 Marie Smith. All rights reserved.