Chapter 9
Tapping into Your Spiritual Side
IN THIS CHAPTER
Finding out what you believe in
Developing your spirituality through the Golden Rule
Growing spiritually through community and study
We all would agree that life is comprised of at least three areas: the physical part, the mental part, and the spiritual part. But many of us ignore the spirituality that is inside of us, and unfortunately, we tread through life without developing and refining our spiritual gifts.
The development of our spirituality is one of the great journeys of life. It can bring great joy as well as sorrow. We can be comforted by it and frustrated by it depending on the day. It can enhance our relationships and add meaning, or it can drive a wedge between people who are close. You might be asking, why then would it make sense for me to tap into spirituality when it can cause such diverging outcomes?
I think that’s a valid question. I might answer it by saying that we don't want to ignore a major part of our true self. In the achievement of success, you have to risk putting yourself out there. To receive the yang in life, or the good, you have to take the risk that the yin could show up as well. For us to experience joy, we have to risk sorrow.
We Are All Spiritual Beings
Wherever you are on your spiritual journey is okay with me. There is absolutely zero judgement, preaching, or condemnation in my heart, mind, or spirit as I write this. There is no moral high ground I am attempting to stake out in your mind. I hope that you evaluate my thoughts and ideas as they are meant to be, which is guiding, thought provoking, and respectful. I am merely a fellow traveler in this journey of life and legacy, someone who desires to fully develop himself spiritually and find truth for my life.
I believe we are each on our own individual journey to spiritual fulfillment and spiritual purpose. You may have been exposed to your spiritual side early in life and didn’t understand it. Perhaps it was confusing or didn’t line up with the beliefs about yourself and the world. People can close off their spiritual side because the world isn't as black and white as it might seem. There are certainly plenty of religions in our world that passionately feel that their beliefs are right, true, and the only pathway to spiritual fulfillment. Many have competing doctrine and dogma. The question isn’t who is right or who is wrong. The question you need to answer is this: What is right or wrong for me?
There is an element in my spiritual pursuit that requires faith. We can see the beauty all around us in our world. We can see and experience the sun, the mountains, the grassy fields, the wildflowers, and the mammoth trees. We can see the power of the oceans, rivers, and lakes. We can have faith that this beauty around us is a random act of nature that exploded into being in one concise moment. Others can believe through faith that a Creator orchestrated this beauty as part of a master plan. Each of those beliefs requires a level of faith no matter your conclusion.
The development of your personal faith and spiritual beliefs is one of the incredible journeys of life. The twist and turns are better than any John Grisham novel. While there are many different belief systems in our world, I respect all beliefs and people's right to choose and exercise their own beliefs in a way that enhances their life.
I was raised in the Christian faith. As a practicing Christian, who is not perfect by any means, I will speak as broadly or inclusively as possible. I fully disclose my faith to you upfront to establish a clear understanding of where my values and principles are founded. There will be times when I express things in language based on my own faith and use the Bible as a source in this chapter. But I refer to the Bible not to proselytize but merely to use examples to support my conviction that developing your spirituality will increase your success in life. Please feel free to substitute specific terminology that you find more comfortable.
What do you believe in?
Our world is full of belief systems, spirituality groups, and religions with different histories, dogma, and doctrine. The separating question is, what do you believe? How does that belief connect with other people of spiritual faith? Do you believe there is a higher power? Do you believe in a Creator of the universe? Is that higher power benevolent, caring, and loving?
What are the rules and principles that guide your life? What were you taught at a young age that you still believe? Do you believe in the Golden Rule (which I cover later in this chapter in the section “Use the Golden Rule as a spiritual base”)? Do you have a belief in karma, the principle that what goes around comes around? Do you have a foundational belief in right and wrong? Do you feel there is a need for atonement or forgiveness?
Some of us are still just seeking, and we don’t know what to believe. There is nothing wrong with being a seeker. In fact, having a curious or seeking personality is a clear advantage in becoming successful. A principle of success most of us have heard is “Seek and ye will find.” To find and know what you believe in, you must first be a seeker and questioner before you become a finder. In my studies of ancient text, God is not offended by a seeker. In fact, he welcomes the seeker. I realize that might be contrary to how some people perceive God, but it’s true. I know many people in my lifetime who have honest questions and doubts about the existence of God. To even ask for God to reveal his presence and existence is a valid thought or question for a seeker.
Consider this basic prayer:
God (or if that word doesn’t connect with you, say “whoever you are”), I don’t know if you really exist, but my prayer is, if you do, that you would reveal yourself to me clearly and definitely that I might personally know you.
Alcoholics Anonymous teaches its members to find “a God of their understanding” so that they can pray to whomever or whatever. The simplicity of this approach should not be lost. The objective of this prayer isn’t deep spirituality, certainty, commitment, belief, or even faith that you will receive an answer. What you are doing through this prayer is opening yourself up to the possibility of a God or higher power revealing itself to you. It may be a dynamic encounter you have had before, or not. This is the ultimate act of seeking so that you can find spiritual truth.
Developing and expressing your faith
To be able to live out faith, we have to define faith. The dictionary offers numerous definitions:
- A devotion to duty or a person
- A belief and trust in and loyalty to God
- Belief in the doctrines of religion
- Firm belief even in the absence of proof
I think all of these definitions are interesting to consider as you make your journey to success and spiritual growth.
We can certainly be devoted to and faithful to a cause or person. When I married Joan, my wife, 29 years ago, I had faith based on my devotion to her and the commitment that I made to “forsake all others.” I believe it was my duty that day and each day “until death do us part.” I also stated that same commitment in the presence of God, as well as all others that attended our wedding.
Your faith also can be rooted in the trust and loyalty you have in God as expressed in the second definition. This is clearly faith for many who exercise their spirituality. Some take that faith to a narrower gate of belief in their specific religion (the third definition), such as being Shiite or Sunni Muslims, Orthodox or Reformed Jews, or Catholic, Methodist, or Baptist Christians, to name a few.
My perspective is that the fourth definition is the most inclusive definition of faith for all of us to embrace: Faith is the firm belief even in the absence of proof. I cannot tangibly prove that God exists, just as someone who is an atheist cannot tangibly prove that God does not exist. Both of us are acting on the faith we have of existence or non-existence in our lives. Faith is something we live out every day of our lives. If I didn’t have faith that I wouldn’t be in an automobile accident upon leaving my house, I would be a recluse at home. When you buy a United States-issued bond, it clearly states that it is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. Why U.S. bonds are revered the world over as low-risk investments is because of the faith and credit of the United States government. You wouldn’t feel the same way about a bond that was backed by the full faith and credit of Greece or Venezuela.
In developing your faith, you are developing or improving your relationship with your beliefs, or higher power, or God. And a successful life is about relationships.
In my case, my faith has allowed me to develop my relationship with Jesus Christ. I believe in relationship, not a specific religion. My relationship with Jesus Christ is what matters, not a church building, denomination, church membership, ritual, dogma, doctrine, or even my works (works as defined by good deeds). Christianity isn’t a set of rules, or dos and don’ts, to follow and check off. It is not a percentage of time that I need to be good, right, and just to be admitted to heaven. It is the development of a more personal relationship with my Creator, who actually wants to have that deeper relationship with me. How amazing is that?
Improving Your Success by Developing Your Spirituality
You have likely heard the term spiritual wealth. Many experts have expressed that spiritual wealth is more valuable than financial wealth. Sir John Templeton, the famous banker, fund manager, and philanthropist, describes spiritual wealth this way: “If we have not developed a reservoir of spiritual wealth, no amount of money is likely to make us happy. Spiritual wealth provides faith. It gives us love. It brings and expands wisdom. Spiritual wealth leads to happiness because it guides us into useful or loving relationships. With spiritual wealth as the foundation and security for our lives, we gain a deep and abiding peace that can’t be obtained with material wealth alone.”
Money Magazine calls Sir John Templeton “arguably the greatest global stock picker of the century.” He obviously had more financial wealth than all of us writing or reading this book. He found spiritual wealth a worthy life pursuit. I believe that Sir John Templeton is correct in his view, regardless of your religious beliefs.
Learn to forgive
People who develop their spiritual side have to develop more faith as well. It’s true that people who lack faith frequently carry more resentment, anger, hurt, and fear. We all have been wronged by other people in life. Some of these hurtful experiences come from people who clearly love us, and other negative experiences come from our enemies. If we carry these feelings around and store them for easy recall, reliving the burden and weight of those feelings of resentment and hurt can be overwhelming. Over time, we can turn ourselves into very unhappy people who lack peace of mind and joy in our lives.
The development of your spiritual side through forgiveness is a significant part of your spiritual growth. The mindset, focus, and act of forgiveness are not religious, although most religions have very profound teachings on forgiveness. When we fail to forgive, we are choosing to hold onto and retain that anger, frustration, and bitterness inside of us. It’s doing a lot more damage to your peace of mind, soul, and physical body than the person that wronged you. The act of forgiveness enables you to release those feelings and frustrations. It enables you to move past them to focus on more meaningful pursuits in your life.
Find comfort in faith
For me, my faith gives me comfort knowing that God is in control. There is a security I feel in my heart and soul that no matter what I am experiencing, God wants the best for me. I know that my God is bigger and more powerful than any problem or challenge that I am experiencing or will ever experience, and that the ultimate solution doesn’t rest 100 percent on my shoulders.
But I'm not saying that I feel that “fate” holds all the cards. There are decisions and actions I take that influence outcomes, both positive and negative. The philosophy of “whatever happens, happens” is a little too fatalistic for my tastes. Our journey through life includes an element of personal choices and personal responsibility.
I am confident in my relationship with my Creator that when my strength and faith is running on empty, He is just getting started with a full tank. I believe that His vast storehouses of knowledge and resources far exceed mine in the present and future. My success in my spiritual life can be attributed in part to this truth: All things work together for the good. Now that doesn’t mean that each and every thing that will happen to you will be good. If you've lived a day, you know this isn't true. There will always be bad things that happen to good people. There will be unexplainable happenings or unfair and unjust outcomes. What I am expressing is that if we have faith, a spiritual grounding, we can recognize that all events of our lives will be combined in a grand combination of good, and that also requires faith.
The Apostle Paul, who wrote 13 books included in the modern-day Bible, was temporarily blinded, imprisoned multiple times, shipwrecked three times, bitten by a poisonous snake, beaten, stoned, and ultimately executed. All those events are likely to pale in comparison to any bad things that have happened, or will happen, to us. Paul says in Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” What an amazing spiritual perspective of faith and comfort.
I know what I believe in, and I know where my faith resides. What can you draw on in times of crises that bring you comfort? Is it being in nature? Is it the sound of the ocean or the tranquility of the mountains? Do you have a favorite spot that brings you peace and comfort? Is it surrounding yourself with family and friends? Is it just being alone in solitude?
Increase your feelings of belonging and security
We all want to be connected in community with others. The feelings of isolation and loneliness lead to depression, lack of vitality, poor physical health, and even death. Men are three times more likely to die after being widowed than their normal risk of mortality. We all have seen instances where in long-married couples, one spouse dies, and in a short timeframe, the other spouse passes away as well.
Being invested in a spiritual community truly can be a life-giving and life-changing experience. We feel a sense of safety, security, and belonging when engaged with a community of like-minded people with higher aspirations than just self-fulfillment. Many of these faith-based communities do outreach to their local community and in some cases to the global community at large. Being in service to others is a wonderful way to achieve gratitude, humility, and purpose in life.
Connect your faith with love
All the religions of the world have one common theme or basis: the explosive, exponential, life-giving power of love. The experiencing and acting out of love enables us to live life to the fullest. In fact, the act of love alone qualifies you as successful. If we do nothing other than think and demonstrate love to all other people and other living things on earth, we have been successful. Love is the greatest power in the universe.
By faith we can extend forgiveness, which is an extension of love. To guide others to feel love and to demonstrate love to others both rewards them and you. It’s easy to act in love when we feel love to others. The true habit of success is to act in love, even when we don’t feel like it. Love is sometimes a decision that we make. We decide that no matter what happens, we will love. When life deals us negativity, hard feelings, and frustration, make the decision to return the fire of love rather than retaliate with pain and anger.
Whatever your beliefs, religion, or faith, the decision to love one and all will change you and also change the world.
Use the Golden Rule as a spiritual base
The Golden Rule is a wonderful basis for your spiritual beliefs. It comes from Jesus' famous Sermon on the Mount in the Book of Matthew in the Bible. Here it is in all its simplicity: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
The Golden Rule knows no geographic or spiritual limitations. It is the same the world over in concept, and I feel that it’s a universal constant for spiritual health. No matter where you live or how you were raised, the Golden Rule's power should resonate within you. Living your life on the basis of the Golden Rule will enhance your spirituality no matter your underlying personal or religious beliefs.
Some might say that the Golden Rule is a Christian principle, but I would not agree to Christianity’s exclusive ownership. I feel that the Golden Rule is aligned with the values and beliefs of all religions. Compare these proclamations from several religions:
- Buddhism: “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.”
- Christianity: “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”
- Confucianism: “Do not unto others what you would not have them do unto you.”
- Hinduism: “The true role of life is to guard and do by the things of others as they do on their own.”
- Islam: “No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.”
- Judaism: “Whatever is hurtful to yourself do not to your fellow man. That is the whole of the law, the rest is merely a commentary.”
- Taoism: “Regard your neighbor’s gain as your own gain and your neighbor’s loss as your own loss.”
It’s clear to see that the Golden Rule connects with all people, and it's a basic aspirational principle in all major religions of the world.
Growing Spiritually
To grow in your spiritual faith, you must invest time and resources in it. Your spiritual growth is like growth in any other area of your life. It needs focus, effort, study, and application. It's naive to think that you will grow and discover all that your spiritual side has to offer without putting in a solid effort.
Your spiritual growth is both an internal pursuit of self and the pursuit of knowledge linked to emotion and wisdom of a higher power or the world around us. It can be closely linked with the awareness of how small we are compared to the world and universe. Understanding our level of humanity in the world leads to greater spiritual awareness. Unfortunately, in countries like the United States, where we have so much prosperity, it’s easy to lack awareness of others in our society.
Find a spiritual community
I believe that finding a community to connect with and feel part of is one of the significant benefits of spiritual growth. It's uplifting to be practice your beliefs with others who are like-minded. We all desire to be part of a community, to feel a sense of belonging, to in essence be part of our tribe. There are clear physiological and social benefits to connecting with people who share your faith, and those benefits come from, say, attending a daily Catholic mass service, an evening prayer at the mosque, or taking a walk in nature with your animism community to observe the spirit in the trees, animals, and plants.
The act of fellowship in a spiritual community is one of the best-kept secrets of being of part of spiritual community. As we connect and interact with people in our spiritual community, our faith is deepened. We expose ourselves to people who share their life experiences and wisdom with us. We are able to tap into vast storehouses of knowledge they have through years of study and application of a common faith. In time, we can provide that same mentoring, support, and guidance role to others. Good and wise leaders are important to our continual growth and development in any area of life, and especially the spiritual area.
Community and fellowship make us better people. Engaging in your spirituality in a community of believers has specific and personal benefits. We become more loving and compassionate husbands, wives, and parents. We enhance our skills as friends. We sharpen each other.
Building relationships
Fellowship builds relationships. Being present and together in a faith community creates relationships. The regular attendance at spiritual gatherings each week or month creates connections with others. Our lives become more meaningful because of these connections we develop. We were built and created to be in relationship with others, and I'm talking about friends, family, and even God. It’s one of the more meaningful parts of life.
The spiritual part of us desires to be in relationships with others in the world around us and with a higher power, be that God, Allah, or Jesus Christ. Being successful spiritually means developing a personal relationship with the deity who is the foundation of your spiritual being. King David acknowledges this relationship in Psalms 139:13: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”
Building friendships
Our personal being desires to be in relationships and friendship with others. Think about your closest friends. It’s probable that among all the people you know, they are the ones most like you when it comes to how you think, act, and communicate. Because they're like you, you're attracted to each other. The “like” factor of the law of attraction is as powerful as the law of gravity.
We need deep, abiding friendships with others. We need them to fulfill our lives and be successful in life. We also need them for encouragement and security. Ancient scripture tells us “a person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back to back and conquer.” It further states, “for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.” I doubt that many of us fear the return of Genghis Khan to attack our world with swords, where we need to stand back to back with a friend for shear physical survival. I do believe that we all need friendships in faith, friends who would have their proverbial swords drawn and will stand back to back with us to protect our families in the battles of modern life. These are the friends I count on to stand with me when financial problems arise, or when a parent dies, or when my kids get in trouble, or when I just lost my job. I am extremely blessed to have friends who, with me, form a triple-braided cord in our collective lives.
Building unity
Unity is beyond relationship and friendship. Unity is a focused resolve by a collection of like-minded people to achieve a specific purpose. The collective buy-in has occurred, and the pursuit of specific objectives can proceed. The founding fathers of the United States of America were in unity in their quest for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Now it took them awhile to reach unity among themselves, but when they did, something extraordinary was set in motion through the signing of the Declaration of Independence. For all of us who live in the United States, we receive the passed down unity of their fellowship.
The Christian religion was established through unity of thought that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; that he sacrificed himself on the cross for the atonement of our sin; that he rose again and conquered sin for all eternity. It has spread worldwide due to the unity of faith of the 12 disciples, and now 2.28 billion people recognize themselves as Christians today. Talk about the compound effect!
Nothing that is significant, history making, or lasting has ever been accomplished without first having unity. Unity is a critical building block in creating success in a community and our lives.
Invest time with spiritual study
Whatever our spiritual beliefs, we all must exercise our learning muscles on them. The pathway to growth in any area of our lives is to immerse ourselves in study and learning. Most of us, when we found out we were blessed to have a child, went straight to Amazon or a local bookstore to grab a book to start our learning journey. You might have grabbed Pregnancy For Dummies, or as your trimesters passed by, you grabbed Your Baby’s First Year For Dummies. Making the commitment to life-long learning is a habit that successful people instill. The study of spiritual texts that align with your belief is life enriching.
If your faith is based in Islam, then reading and studying the Koran should be a daily pursuit. You might be of the Jewish faith, so studying the Torah beyond just preparation for your bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah increases your spiritual growth. If you are Christian, the study of the Bible, especially the New Testament section of the Bible, is necessary for spiritual development.
For your spiritual development to continue, it must be viewed as a seed. That belief you have in your own personal spiritual philosophy is like a seed planted in your mind, heart, and soul. For that seed to fully germinate, develop, and grow, it requires good soil, water, sunlight, and weed pulling so that the water and nutrients are used by your seed of faith. You don't want your seed to be robbed by the weeds that grow in the most fertile soil of our heart, mind, and soul.
For spiritual study to be effective, you need to establish habits. You should invest time daily in reading and studying the wisdom contained in ancient texts. If you are Hindu, then studying the Vedas or Bhagavad Gita brings enlightenment. This study is like watering the seed of faith planted in the soil of our heart. Without water, the seed won't germinate, put down roots, and sprout.
Daily prayer is sunlight to our soul. It’s where that wisdom is transferred into our minds. Napoleon Hill, in his landmark book, Think and Grow Rich, calls the higher power “Infinite Intelligence.” Whether you pray to God, Buddha, Allah, or Jesus Christ, the act of prayer provides sunlight for our spiritual seed to grow. The memorizing of spiritual text and scripture is a powerful tool to pull weeds that grow in our garden and threaten our seed of faith. Knowing the words by heart gives you the ability to recall wisdom developed and tested over the history of humankind. When life has you flustered and your thinking becomes off base, you can rely on the texts you know to recenter your mind, and you can pull and discard the weeds that may be crowding out your faith.
Harness the power of prayer
In our spiritual life, prayer creates clarity of self. Through the act of prayer, changes that we need to make are revealed to us. People who need our help and comfort are brought to consciousness. How we might live more fully and abundantly is frequently revealed. The ability to help, support, and intercede for others is one of the ultimate acts of love. It is also one of the most powerful tools in our toolkit.
I affectionately called my mother a prayer warrior. She went into battle every day against the evil forces that try to influence our physical world and spiritual world. She was well armed with intercessory prayer for others. She was not able bodied for many years of her life. As I've mentioned earlier in this book, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when I was 3 years old. By the time I was completing second grade, she had taken her last upright step. She couldn’t physically do what many other mothers could, but what she could do, even lying in bed, was pray. I know that she prayed for her sons’ safety every time we walked out the door. She prayed for our protection against the rampant drug use that gripped our community in our teen years. She prayed for her physical health, not to be miraculously be cured, but for her strength and wisdom to carry out the plans she had for many years. She was a warrior of prayer because of her deep faith and her infirmity. She prayed her way through life.
She even prayed for things unseen and to come. She prayed for her unborn grandchildren, and especially a granddaughter because, having three boys, she never got to experience the joy of a daughter. She passed away before Annabelle was born. Oh, how that granddaughter would have filled her with joy! I know she is delighting in heaven watching over us. I remember her saying to a young mother one day who was holding a new infant, “Being a parent is a wonderful blessing. I have three boys. Do you know why I have three boys?” To which the young mother said, “No, I don’t.” My mother replied, “I have three boys because I didn’t want four.” My mother probably prayed mightily to keep her sense of humor.
I have discovered that, rather than starting with my laundry list of personal needs in prayer, if I start in humility and gratitude, the sunlight of prayer is more meaningful. When I begin with gratitude, it repositions my heart to understand how blessed, fortunate, and favored I am by God. I then move to interceding for others: my family, wife, children, parents, and other relatives. I then pray for friends in need, relationships, my employees, and my clients. I then move to the problems and challenges, praying for wisdom and resolution. I also pray for any desires I have that I hope to be fulfilled and answered.
Whatever your spiritual beliefs, prayer or meditation has benefits for our mental well-being. Too many of us have been led to believe that prayer is formal, or we have to use flowery words and phrases. Prayer is merely a conversation that you are having in your spiritual life with someone or something that has more power than yourself. It’s the appeal and recognition that we all need help from the universe or the Creator of the universe in our daily lives. We're hoping for a little more of that “Infinite Intelligence,” as Napoleon Hills called it, in our lives.
There is an ancient principle of truth in play when you take part in the act of praying: “Ask and you will receive.” “Knock and the door will open.” There is no receiving without asking. Do your kids fully pick up after themselves and clean their bedrooms without you asking? Does it usually take multiple asks or prompts for them to complete the task? The same is true in the act of prayer. We often have to ask more than once for what we desire for ourselves and others.
But that doesn’t mean that prayer is the big cosmic vending machine in the universe, where all I have to do is drop a coin of prayer into the slot, pull the lever, and out pops my selection. Sometimes prayer is answered, but not in our expected timeline. Sometimes it’s answered in an unexpected way or through different life circumstances. There are situations when we pray for a particular door to open, and what opens instead is a window. The fresh air feels the same blowing through the open window as the open door.
It is an absolute guarantee that there is no receiving without asking. It’s assured that the door, window, or slider will not open unless we knock.
Memorize spiritual passages
The practice of memorizing spiritual passages is a powerful way to grow in your spiritual depth. There are useful, valuable, and life-breathing words contained in, for example, the Bible, Koran, Torah, and the writings of Confucius. Being able to memorize them for recall in times of need and times when others need comfort is an invaluable tool.
Establish the habit of weekly memorizing spiritual passages. Doing so will increase your cognition, fill your soul, and expand your intellect.
When you are faced with difficult challenges, you will be able to recall and use the ancient wisdom to help you overcome your present circumstances. Spiritual passages can bring you comfort and clarity, lighting a pathway of escape whenever you face danger. Memorizing spiritual passages helps us pull the weeds in our garden of life. By weeds, I'm talking about our errors in judgement, unfortunate circumstances, and even evil forces in our world and beyond.
As I stated earlier in the chapter, all spiritual faiths recognize the existence of good and evil. Evil is the opposite of good, and you see opposites at play in all aspects of life. You can’t have success without failure. It would impossible to have joy without sorrow. So logically, there must be both evil and good. Memorizing spiritual passages is a way to pull the weeds or even weaponize ourselves against the forces of evil, if that's how you choose to think about things. Here's an apt quote from the Bible in Ephesians 6:13:
Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
St. Paul, who wrote this spiritual text, knew that we as human beings are in battle daily. We need protection from the fiery arrows of evil. I can attest to using memorized scripture as a weapon against self-doubt, discouragement, frustration, and self-pity. It has provided protection in time of need.
Knowing spiritual texts by heart gives us protection against so many personal follies: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride. Memorizing scripture is “the sword of the spirit” that you can use effectively to vanquish the enemies that are determined to create casualties in their wake.
A spiritually developed life is an abundant life. Our spirituality was placed inside of us before birth. It was hardwired into our being. To ignore or disclaim its existence inside of us is to reject our true self. I am encouraging you to develop your spirituality as passionately as you develop other areas of your being.