James Yee is the webmaster of http://www.yeearticles.com.His tips on internet marketing is available at http://yeearticles.com/self-improve/Spiritual_Growth_the_Spiritual_Challenge_of_Modern_Times.php
To grow spiritually in a world defined by power, money, and influence is a Herculean task. Modern conveniences such as electronic equipments, gadgets, and tools as well as entertainment through television, magazines, and the web have predisposed us to confine our attention mostly to physical needs and wants.
As a result, our concepts of self-worth and self-meaning are muddled. How can we strike a balance between the material and spiritual aspects of our lives?
To grow spiritually is to look inward.
Introspection goes beyond recalling the things that happened in a day, week, or month. You need to look closely and reflect on your thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and motivations.
Periodically examining your experiences, the decisions you make, the relationships you have, and the things you engage in provide useful insights on your life goals, on the good traits you must sustain and the bad traits you have to discard. Moreover, it gives you clues on how to act, react, and conduct yourself in the midst of any situation.
Like any skill, introspection can be learned; all it takes is the courage and willingness to seek the truths that lie within you. Here are some pointers when you introspect: be objective, be forgiving of yourself, and focus on your areas for improvement.
To grow spiritually is to develop your potentials.
Religion and science have differing views on matters of the human spirit. Religion views people as spiritual beings temporarily living on Earth, while science views the spirit as just one dimension of an individual.
Mastery of the self is a recurring theme in both Christian (Western) and Islamic (Eastern) teachings. The needs of the body are recognized but placed under the needs of the spirit. Beliefs, values, morality, rules, experiences, and good works provide the blueprint to ensure the growth of the spiritual being.
In Psychology, realizing one's full potential is to self-actualize. Maslow identified several human needs: physiological, security, belongingness, esteem, cognitive, aesthetic, self-actualization, and self-transcendence. James earlier categorized these needs into three: material, emotional, and spiritual. When you have satisfied the basic physiological and emotional needs, spiritual or existential needs come next.
Achieving each need leads to the total development of the individual. Perhaps the difference between these two religions and psychology is the end of self-development: Christianity and Islam see that self-development is a means toward serving God, while psychology view that self-development is an end by itself.
To grow spiritually is to search for meaning.
Religions that believe in the existence of God such as Christianism, Judaism, and Islam suppose that the purpose of the human life is to serve the Creator of all things.
Several theories in psychology propose that we ultimately give meaning to our lives. Whether we believe that life's meaning is pre-determined or self-directed, to grow in spirit is to realize that we do not merely exist.
We do not know the meaning of our lives at birth; but we gain knowledge and wisdom from our interactions with people and from our actions and reactions to the situations we are in. As we discover this meaning, there are certain beliefs and values that we reject and affirm.
Our lives have purpose. This purpose puts all our physical, emotional, and intellectual potentials into use; sustains us during trying times; and gives us something to look forward to-a goal to achieve, a destination to reach. A person without purpose or meaning is like a drifting ship at sea.
To grow spiritually is to recognize interconnections.
Religions stress the concept of our relatedness to all creation, live and inanimate. Thus we call other people 'brothers and sisters' even if there are no direct blood relations.
Moreover, deity-centered religions such as Christianity and Islam speak of the relationship between humans and a higher being. On the other hand, science expounds on our link to other living things through the evolution theory.
This relatedness is clearly seen in the concept of ecology, the interaction between living and non-living things. In psychology, connectedness is a characteristic of self-transcendence, the highest human need according to Maslow.
Recognizing your connection to all things makes you more humble and respectful of people, animals, plants, and things in nature. It makes you appreciate everything around you. It moves you to go beyond your comfort zone and reach out to other people, and become stewards of all other things around you.
Growth is a process thus to grow in spirit is a day-to-day encounter. We win some, we lose some, but the important thing is that we learn, and from this knowledge, further spiritual growth is made possible.
- Related Videos
- Related Articles
- Ask / Related Q&A
- Self Improvement-Top 8 Tips To Improve Your Personality
- Self Improvement – Self Esteem
- Self Improvement Solutions – 5 Tips For Maintaining Your Self Esteem
- Psychological Self-improvement: Ways To Overcome Fear
- Self-improvement Statistics Guide in Decision-making
- Self Improvement-7 Easy Steps To Increase Your Concentration Power
- Self Improvements Tips- Fast Fat Loss
- 7 Great Tips to Self Improvement




The Tree of Life: A Cure For Bittered Waters
By: Stephen Stillman | 06/12/2009We are familiar with the story of Moses leading the people of Israel out of bondage in Egypt. One of their most critical times during this journey was when they were suffering from an almost intolerable thirst. How their hearts beat with joy when they came to Marah and saw water! Just as quickly as their hearts become joyful, despair came again because the waters were too bitter to drink. All of us sooner or later in life come to Marah where we find bitter waters in the cup of human experience.
The Lord God's Invitation in Bible versus Quran (1)
By: Prof.dr. Ibrahim Khalil | 05/12/2009In the Bible, the Lord God invites the birds and all the wild animals for the flesh of the mighty to eat and the blood the princes of the earth to drink. In the Quran, Allah invites the people to keep their duty to their Lord.
God Calculus
By: MILES PRIDE | 04/12/2009We know very little about our vast universe. What we know could easily be deposited on the head of a pin in a million galaxies. Evolution, as it pertains to man, is arguably far from substantiated (even evolutionists disagree with one another.) This being the case wouldn't the "possibility" of a...
Expert TW Jackson Guide To Winning Back Your Ex
By: David Gaillard | 04/12/2009You had a fight with your partner and now you have broken up with him or her. If you are thinking of winning back your ex, calling him or her twenty times a day or leaving desperate messages at the
From My First Breath, I Knew That God Existed. Why Does Faith Come Easily To Some And Not Others?
By: Theplus50crowd | 04/12/2009There are numerous religions and faiths in our world. People continually search for the truth about life and death. For some of us, God touched us at an eary age, therefore, we instinctively knew He existed. For others, the search for God becomes a journey that takes a lifetime to fulfill.
Kissing and Foreplay during Ramadan?
By: John Doe | 04/12/2009This is an article about whether you're allowed to kiss your wife during Ramadan or not. Are you allowed to have foreplay during fast?
Is Sex Allowed During Ramadan?
By: John Doe | 04/12/2009This is an article focusing on the sexual part of Ramadan. Are you allowed to have sex during Ramadan?
Temples tour Inida, Indian Temple Tours, Temple Tour to Himachal Pradesh, Nainadevi tour, Deot Sidh tour package India
By: Chaman | 04/12/2009North India Tour Package - Religious tour operator offering tours to holy sherines of Gods and Goddesses, Himachal pradesh pilgrimage tour package, Pilgrimage tour to Punjab. Holy Vaishno Devi sherine, Temple tour to the North, Northerindia temple tourism, North india mata temples
Tips For Installing Your Nintendo Wii
By: James Yee | 20/01/2008 | Computer GamesThese are the first thing you do after you bought Nintendo Wii.
What Can You Get Out Of The Latest Version Of Nintendo Wii
By: James Yee | 20/01/2008 | Computer GamesFeatures of Nintendo.
Relexation Is A Must For All
By: James Yee | 04/08/2007 | Stress ManagementYour Recommended Daily Allowance for Relaxation.
Be A Leader And Make It Happen
By: James Yee | 03/08/2007 | MotivationalHow to Become an Ideal Leader.
Life Mapping-A Vision Of Success
By: James Yee | 03/08/2007 | MotivationalVisualization is part of success.
Law on Human Attraction
By: James Yee | 03/08/2007 | Self HelpA look on Human Attraction.
Tips On Spiritual Growth
By: James Yee | 03/08/2007 | ReligionSpiritual Growth: the Spiritual Challenge of Modern Times