What is Spirituality?
image from Legend of Kora
In Avatar: The Last Airbender and it’s sequel, the avatars often send their spirits venturing into the “spirit world.” While those shows are fiction, a version of the spirit world really does exist.
Spirituality isn’t as Ambiguous as it Seems
The problem with the term “spirituality” is that everyone seems to have a different idea of what it means.
The scientific community probably views it as a made-up, fictional fantasy.
Members of the new-age movement seem to relate it closely to breathing exercises and yoga poses.
Christians seem to relate it with doves.
When you mash that all together, spirituality ends up feeling somewhere between “ambiguously vague” and “completely make-believe.” On average, it feels pretty hokey, So what is spirituality?
The Bible teaches that spirits are real, and that spiritual things are even more substantial than physical things, but even Christians might define spirituality differently. Let’s look at the words the Bible uses to see what they mean.
Bible’s Definition of “Spirit”
The Old Testament (Hebrew) term for spirit is “ruah.”
ruah (noun)
1. breath
2. wind
3. that which animates or agitates, disposition
4. disembodied being
5. the seat of emotion, desire
6. the seat of mental acts
7. the seat of moral character
The New Testament (Greek) term for spirit is “pneuma.”
pneuma (noun)
1. air in motion: wind, breath
2. the vital principle
3. frame of mind, disposition
4. incorporeal being, disembodied human being, angel, demon
To summarize both of these, a “spirit” seems to be something that animates the body or animates our disposition / frame of mind.
Everyday Examples of Spirituality
There are plenty of spiritual conditions that affect you every day.
Your boss tells you to clean up a mess your coworker made, and you become irritated. (A disposition is agitating your frame of mind.)
You see a homeless man and feel compelled to give him $5. (An inclination is stimulating your thoughts and emotions.)
You wake up and unexplainably have a good feeling about the day. (This is a disposition / frame of mind.)
The spiritual realm is real, and opposing spirits are in conflict every day over your thoughts and emotions.
What Spirit Dictates My Life?
But what kind of spirits do you let yourself be affected by? The spirits that affect you can either make your existence better or worse. They can uplift the people around you or push them away.
Even just today, I got angry about a decision my boss made. In that moment, I allowed a negative spirit to animate my thoughts and emotions. My frame of mind became skewed as I allowed it to agitate me. That’s not the kind of spirit I want to allow into my life.
Is there a single spirit that tends to dominate your thought life, or fuel your emotions?
If that spirit had a name, would it be “Anxiety?” “Greed?” “Lust?”
John 4:24 says that God himself is spirit.
And Galatians describes the kinds of conditions God’s spirit produces (things like peace, patience, joy, and love).
THOSE are the kinds of spiritual forces I want to experience in my life. I want GOD to be the spirit that inspires my emotions, influences my thoughts, and compels me to action. I want HIM to be my source of motivation. I want him to animate me like a hand animates a lifeless glove. I want him to cause me to think the way I think, feel the way I feel, and do the things I do.