Core Radiate
  • Welcome
  • Competencies
  • Consulting Services
  • Portfolio
  • About Kim
  • Contact
  • Inspirational Blog
  • Faith-Based Portfolio
  • Subscribe Now

Glimmers in the Fog

Finding Glimpses of Divine Providence in Everyday Life
Subscribe & Get my FREE RADIATE eBook Devotional
Picture
When you sign up for my email list four amazing things happen! 
1 - You'll get an encouraging blog post in your inbox each week.
2 - You'll receive a FREE version of my newest devotional book RADIATE 
3 - You'll get sneak peeks at my forthcoming e-books and novel.
4 - You'll be helping me get published one day, just by subscribing and sharing my posts with others. 
Thank you – you're awesome!
CLICK TO SUBSCRIBE NOW
EU Residents ONLY - Please Sign Up Here

Building A Spiritual Backbone

8/29/2018

6 Comments

 
The Holy Spirit infuses our spiritual backbone with the character of Christ.
LISTEN NOW instead of reading! >>>>>>
Listening / reading time: 8 minutes, 21 seconds
Glimmers is NOW AVAILABLE on
iTunes as well! 
Building a Spiritual BackboneHover over image to share on Pinterest

My spine isn’t straight, but most people don’t know that about me. From a casual glance, the untrained eye would have no idea that I have a significan
t spinal rotation that makes the muscles on the right side of my back and core weaker and less efficient. And while that may sound like a significant issue, it hasn’t held me back from any of my usual physical activities. I’m not a great athlete, my balance isn’t stellar, and I’m definitely a klutz (I’m not sure whether to blame that last one on my spine or not!), but overall, my deformity is not something that’s altered the course of my life.

Until recently, I’ve rarely even thought about this hidden issue. While I have my suspicions, I don’t even know for certain how or when it occurred, which really blows my mind. One would think that if something happened to damage my spine, it would’ve produced enough pain to drive me to the hospital. But the medical professionals I’ve talked to through the years all say it is possible to suffer that kind of spinal trauma and not realize the severity. But as I’ve gotten older (sigh!), the imbalances caused by the rotation are starting to catch up with my mobility and interrupting my sleep. So off to physical therapy I go to re-activate, teach, and strengthen some muscles that have become shorter and weaker ever so subtly day by day, year by year. What once was a hidden, ignored, and unobtrusive oddity quietly morphed into a life-altering, obvious problem that now requires a substantial amount of my time, focus, and energy to correct.

Just as our spines are designed to be the balancing rod of our bodies, so our spiritual backbones are intended to keep our souls pointed in the right direction. The human spine is made up of more than 30 individual bones, all symbiotically connected to the main spinal cord, and our spiritual backbone is no different. There are multiple components of a healthy spiritual spine, from trust and love to patience and purity, and they evolve, respond, and hopefully improve throughout our lives. Of course, the healing of our spiritual injuries and deformities is not as simple as scheduling our next session of physical therapy because God’s rehabilitation of our lives involves every aspect of our beings — bodies, hearts, minds, and souls. And just like my current list of PT exercises, the disciplines God lovingly designed to keep us pointed toward Him are sometimes required in greater dosages.

Although every person is born with a spiritual backbone — the very imprint of the Creator Himself — it is rarely given the attention it deserves and often deteriorates quickly as life bombards us with its challenges, disappointments and temptations. Just as our bodies sometimes cope with stress by making unhealthy adjustments, so our spiritual backbone can rotate or curve, throwing our life out of balance, clouding our judgment, and eventually sending us into a place of atrophy. Most of our culture today is severely lacking any spiritual fortitude and is dominated by fragile emotions, minimal commitment, and self-indulgence. On the other hand, when the soul is rightly aligned, endurance, honor, life balance, maturity, and emotional stability become hallmarks of our lives.

Depending on how we handle life, the hardest of times can leave us with hidden, sometimes irreversible damage. For example, my spiritual backbone bears the marks of deep-seated worry and anxiety, for which I have learned to apply God’s PT repeatedly. Whether its permanent damage from systemic anger, bitterness, doubt, addictions, abuse, lust, greed, control issues, or pride, we all wrestle with one or more chronic weaknesses. Like Paul who battled a “thorn in his side” throughout his ministry, my inclination toward worry may never go away, but through the gradual, repeated application of God’s remedy, my primary weakness has become one of my greatest teachers.

Is your spiritual backbone strong? Is it aligned with Christ? Are there parts of it not facing the right direction? Are you suffering from permanent damage? Most importantly, have you asked the Holy Spirit to reveal your hidden injuries? We all have them in some way, but spiritual health, mobility, and strength can never occur if we don’t ask God to give us the eyes to see how far off we are, to believe in the only true cure, and to understand how to apply the right Biblical therapies and disciplines.

When we are actively trusting in and abiding in Jesus, the Holy Spirit offers us a soul infusion of Christ-like characteristics, even when there has been extreme damage in the past. Galatians calls this infusion, which spreads to every corner of our being, the fruits of the spirit.Galatians 5:22-24 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” In the Holy Spirit’s power, we can move toward the spiritual backbone God originally intended us to have, regardless of our weaknesses, failures, and mistakes. Our lifestyles will be marked by endurance, committed relationships, compassion, a thirst for holiness, humility, honor, and self-sacrifice for others. But the Great Healer will never force us to take the prescription. He wants us to submit willingly out of complete love, trust, and gratitude for the ultimate sacrifice He made through Jesus on our behalf.

Paul made peace with the thorn in his side, yielding his desires to God. When he did so, he discovered all sufficiency in Christ to the point where he could boast about his weaknesses. Can you imagine walking into a crowded party of both your friends and strangers and loudly proclaiming your greatest weakness? This is the dichotomy of spiritual balance: to accept our weaknesses, but never excuse them. We are called to strive for change and growth, but to learn to be content where God has placed us.  2 Corinthians 12:7-12 (The Message version) puts it so beautifully and clearly:
Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,
“My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.”Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.


Having a spiritual backbone is making peace with your weaknesses, not ignoring them or indulging them, and then letting Jesus transform them into a strong collection of dynamic characteristics that move in concert to more fully believe, trust and love God. When we do, that love will naturally overflow to others around us, inspiring them to develop their own spiritual backbones.
****
If you like this blog post, why not invite others to read it, share it, and subscribe to my weekly emails? You will be encouraging them and you will be helping me share the love of Christ with others. It’s a win-win!

6 Comments
Marian Gotanian
12/4/2020 09:23:54 am

Thank you this article was so helpful it really explains how important it is to have a spiritual backbone...God Bless you .

Reply
Eric link
2/4/2021 05:02:16 pm

Spirituality in oneself is essential to living a better and fulfilling life. Being spiritual will characterize you as a person with a lot of optimism, which will benefit you in so many ways.

Reply
Kim Stiver
2/5/2021 02:11:20 pm

Thank you Eric for your thoughtful comment and for reading/listening to Glimmers in the Fog.

Reply
Alma link
11/2/2021 07:36:39 pm

Otherworldly direction needs direction. It resembles looking at strolling on the ground and hiking. When you figure out how to walk, you can stroll on the ground without anyone else, yet assuming you need to climb Mount Everest, you need an aide.

Reply
Kim
11/3/2021 01:41:40 pm

Thank you, Alma, for stopping by the blog and sharing your thoughts! My hope and prayer is that you find the otherworldly direction you're seeking in the Holy Spirit's presence as you study God's Word and spend time in prayer. Blessings to you!
Kim

Reply
John kapyutu chirwa
1/22/2023 01:45:25 am

Wow this is amazing... I like it

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Search the Blog Archive

    Hint: When using search, you will need to scroll down through results to find exact post. 

    Categories

    All
    Attributes Of God
    Growing Through Difficulties
    Health & Fitness
    Hearing God's Voice
    Joy & Contentment
    Loving & Serving
    Overcoming Temptation
    Prayer & Quiet Time
    Reduce Anxiety & Stress
    Sharing Your Faith
    Spiritual Warfare
    Trusting God

    Archives

    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017

    About Glimmers in the Fog

    Every life is a story, so the big question for every person is: "Who's writing your ending?" Majesty, mystery, and miracles are waiting for us to discover in the most ordinary days if we have the heart to see them. Glimmers in the Fog offers hope and inspiration with spiritual musings, heartfelt confessions, and timely encouragement from a hungry soul in pursuit of the One who set the stars in place yet calls me by name. 


    get glimmers in your inbox!

    If you like reading my blog, please sign up for my email list. You'll get my posts in your inbox once a week, plus my free eBook RADIATE. You'll also have exclusive access to my new content.

    countingmyblessings

    Picture

    Picture

PLEASE READ OUR PRIVACY POLICY & TERMS OF USE / DISCLAIMER
© COPYRIGHT CORE RADIATE 2020. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Welcome
  • Competencies
  • Consulting Services
  • Portfolio
  • About Kim
  • Contact
  • Inspirational Blog
  • Faith-Based Portfolio
  • Subscribe Now