The Spirit is Willing, But the Flesh....

My husband and I, along with another couple from our church, recently attended a conference on Emotionally Healthy Spirituality.

We were all fresh from completing an intense bible study based on the subject-- one which none of us had even heard of before this year--and were overjoyed to meet the powerfully humble authors/practitioners/presenters of this life-changing book/ministry/conference on what is affectionately referred to as EHS, or Emotionally Healthy Spirituality.

I've mentioned the title of the conference twice now, and I am sure that many of you are anxiously awaiting my explanation of EHS. Well, I will not hold you in suspense any longer.... EHS is....beyond simple explanation! It simply must be experienced!

With that being said, what I discovered is that we can be spiritually strong, but so emotionally wounded or immature that our spiritual strength is diluted at best, and at worst, downright dangerous.

We've seen examples of this all around us every time a noted pastor or minister is found to have had an "indescretion" or made some other egregious error that shocks us because we thought they appeared to be so spiritually grounded. Well, they might have been spiritually grounded-- with a head and heart that were buried underground by the weight of childhood traumas and crippling traditions.

A critical key to achieving EHS involves close examination of our families--our family of origin and the family of God. The more we know about both, the clearer the picture of our spiritual health (or lack of it) becomes. It also becomes clear that Emotional and Spiritual health are not multiple choice options--it's not "either...or", it's "both...and" if we are to truly be born-again.

When the Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak due to feeding one and ignoring the other, there is disunity within the individual. This disunity creates an internal restlessness that manifests and masquerades itself in a variety of ways, including arrogance, impatience, anger, lust, greed.... Just fill in the blank with the issue of your choice.

Achieving a spirituality that is emotionally healthy involves a lot of honesty and self-disclosure, things that may sound daunting, but are actually quite liberating, especially when experienced in a safe environment like the one provided at the conference.

As I continue to digest all that God is revealing to me through EHS I invite you to come along on the journey, not as a spectator but as a participator. Start with the book, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero. Attend the conference. And, then, begin the somewhat intimidating but exciting exercise of wrestling with yourself and God over the reality of who you have become vs. who you were meant to be. You may find what I and the conference attendees from around the world discovered, the Spirit is willing, but the flesh...is a work in progress!

BNcouraged!

Rev. Karen