What is Spirituality

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this lesson is to help students redefine spiritual life, knowing the goal for everything we do (why prayer, fasting, virtue...etc)

INTRODUCTION - 5 Minutes

In the beginning was God: the Holy Trinity, The Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. What was the Holy Trinity doing before they created mankind?

We know that God is love, so the Father, Son and Holy Spirit were sharing in Love. So then, why did God create man? It was to share this Love because Love Gives love. When God created man, He shared this love with mankind. etc... (God does need praise and worship, if He did, that would mean He is incomplete because He is in need of something).

CONTENT (KEY POINTS)

What is Love? What is the meaning of Love?

God is Love
Love is expressed by self denial, outward giving of oneself
So because God is Love, He directs Himself outwardly, so He made man (similar reason why parents have kids)

"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails." (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

What did God want from man?

A Relationship, Love reciprocated

What does a human being consist of?

Body - the physical flesh
Soul - the life of a thing/circulatory system (animals share this with us). (Soul can also be translated or refer to as the passions of the body depending on author)
Spirit -- The Image and Likeness of God (Spirit depending on author, can also refer to that which lives forever and goes to the afterlife)

St. Cyril speaks about how there is a difference between the spirit and the Holy Spirit, the spirit is the image and likeness of God, the Holy Spirit is the indwelling of God that we receive in baptism

What does it mean to have the Image and Likeness of God?

Christ, of course, is the true image of God (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:4, Colossians 1:15, Hebrews 1:3)
For us, it means to be exactly like God (not by nature)
It means to be holy and perfect and share the characteristics of God: People can see God through us (again, not by nature)
He wants us to be holy and perfect exactly like Him; aligning our rational, heart and will with God

"But we all, with unveiled faces, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3:18)

This is our DESIGN huge point
We are not made randomly but we have a reason and function and design, to be like God
Because God is Love, we are able to love, because He is mercy and justice and holiness, we are able to be these things
God is the absolute of Holiness and Perfection and because He is these things we are able to have them relatively
THE ONLY REASON PEOPLE NATURALLY KNOW WHAT GOOD IS, IS BECAUSE WE WERE CREATED IN HIS IMAGE AND LIKENESS (outside of this there is no such thing as good and bad)
Good is to be like God, Good is not something random that man decided was good

What does it mean to be a good person?

To live in the Image and Likeness of God, to be like God (objective truth)

Why is God good?

Because HE IS He is self-existent, it is His nature. He IS Good in Himself (no one decided He was good)

What else did God give us? Why?

Free will, so that we are not forced to love Him, so that we have a choice. True Love is not forced. Free will allows us to choose what we value

If we have free will, why did God give us a law?

Without a ruler we can never know what a straight line is
the law is like a ruler, so at anytime you are able to know what a straight line is, you are able to know what is "Right"
The Law is a reflection of God Himself
The Law tells us who God is and who we are supposed to be since we are supposed to be like Him
The Law is like a car manual, it tells us how we are supposed to be, it tells us the Image and Likeness of God in which we are created. It tells us how we are supposed to function

These questions are all important because if we want a real spiritual life we need to know the objective, because usually we struggle spiritually when we are not able to address what is right and wrong objectively. So it is important to understand that God made man in His image and Likeness because He is Love-- this was the design of man, and this is who we are and what gives us purpose and meaning.

LIFE APPLICATION

Anything with a design is created for a certain function, when used outside of its function, it is used incorrectly and can be damaged (using something outside of its function, does not change what it's real/intended design is).

What is Spiritual Life?

Without knowing what the spirit is we cannot understand spiritual life
The spirit, as we said is "The Image and Likeness of God"

So, Spiritual Life is maintaining the function/health of His Image and Likeness in myself. The spirit has health, and when it is working and functioning properly, then it is healthy. It is simple

If we want to work on spiritual life, we must work on the health of the spirit (requires works) To do this we must; live like God, we must be like Christ, we must seek virtue, we must follow the law (Mathew 5-7) Pray, Read Scripture, Love (all these topics will be discussed in the rest of the practical spirituality module).

CONCLUSION

If God is Love, then His image and likeness is Love. If we are created in His image and Likeness, then we are created in and to Love. If your spirit is the image and likeness of God which is Love, then our spirit's design and proper function is LOVE, and since Love is self denial spiritual life is to deny ourselves which is why Christ said "If anyone would come after me , let him DENY HIMSELF and take up his cross and follow me" (Mathew 16:24)

SERVANT RESOURCES

Books:

On the Incarnation - St. Athanasius
Genesis Ch. 1-6
The Orthodox Way (God the Creator), Fr.Kallistos Ware