The word “spiritual” gets thrown around a lot these days.  Some want to seem more spiritual than everyone else, and all of us are offended if someone should suggest that maybe we aren’t as spiritual as we think we are.

Is being spiritual just a matter of saying the right words so that we seem to know what we are talking about when we speak of God, Christian life, and church?  Does the spiritual person verbalize more eloquent public prayers than others?  Am I more spiritual than others because I “do” more than they do?

The Bible answers a resound “NO” to all the above.  A spiritual person is led by the Spirit of God. The Bible presents for us a rather obvious description of the person living under the influence of the Holy Spirit. The truly spiritual person demonstrates consistently the fruit (notice the word is singular, not plural) of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

These nine qualities are shown in contrast to the “works of the flesh” described in Galatians 5:19-21.  So the determining factor of spirituality is the motivation for how we think and act.  The spiritual person does not do what gratifies himself (the flesh) but what pleases the Holy Spirit.  I cannot claim to be spiritual and behave in a fleshly way.

Spiritual Exercise:

On a sheet of paper, draw a line down the middle vertically.  One the left hand side list the “works of the flesh” found in Galatians 5:19-21, then on the right hand side the nine qualities called the “fruit of the Spirit.”  Each day for a week, keep score of which qualities are most evident in your attitudes, thoughts, and actions.  Tally it all up and ask yourself if you are more motivated by the flesh or by the Sprit.

Check back for more on the Spirit-filled life throughout the week.