Spiritual Sickness
What is it?
Are you spiritually sick, I asked myself, having no idea really what that might mean or entail.
Yet, I know what Spiritually Healthy means and looks like, so it's Spiritual Sickness just the opposite?
Spiritually Healthy people are
Of sound mind
Peaceful
Mature
Stable emotionally
Relationally warm
Wise
Lovers of God
Disciplined
Generous of Spirit
Humble
Growing in knowledge of truth
Leaders
Obedience to the Word
Sensitive to the Holy Spirit
Pliable in God's hands...
Ergo,
out sound mind | not of sound mind |
peaceful | distressed/anxious |
mature | immature |
stable emotionally | unstable emotionally |
relationally warm | relationally distant, cold, difficult |
wise | foolish |
lovers of God | lovers of self |
disciplined | undisciplined/lazy/unpredictable |
generous of spirit | stingy |
humble | proud |
growing in knowledge of truth | stagnant, regressing, ignorant |
leaders | fakes |
obedient to the Word | a pursuer of passions/selfish desire |
sensitive to the Holy Spirit | spiritually dead or decaying |
pliable in God's hand | stubborn |
holy | unholy |
righteous | unrighteous |
Are there degrees of sickness?
As in the natural world, can spiritual sickness be contracted through varying means? By contact, person to person, carried by germs, due to an accident? As in the natural world, can people be sick and not recognize the symptoms? Why is it that the church-world is comfortable promoting spiritual health but rarely if ever teaches on spiritual sickness?
Warning Signs:
Distorted Perception
"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil." (Isaiah 5:20) Begin to view things incorrectly. What God calls good may seem restrictive, and what God calls harmful may seem desirable.
Hard Heart
Dulled spiritual sensitivity. Spiritual Blindness. Things that once brought conviction no longer do.
Increasing Inner Restlessness
Persistent dissatisfaction, anxiety, emptiness, constant searching for fulfillment
Psychological Suffering
Spiritual sickness produces pride, bitterness, unforgiveness, self-centeredness, conflict, isolation.
Seeking Life in Things That Cannot Give Life
The Bible calls this idolatry.
People begin looking to:
Success
Money
Relationships
Pleasure
Power
Achievement
to provide what only God can provide. Jeremiah describes this as forsaking a spring of living water and digging broken cisterns that hold no water (Jeremiah 2:13).
Spiritual Appetite Diminishes
spiritual sickness often suppresses desire for things that once nourished the soul:
Prayer
Scripture
Worship
Fellowship
Obedience
A Biblical Picture
Early symptoms:
Restlessness
Compromise
Loss of joy
Decreased sensitivity to God
Progression:
Distorted thinking
Damaged relationships
Bondage to sinful patterns
Advanced stage:
Spiritual blindness
Hardness of heart
Rebellion
Apostasy
Whatever your condition, remember Jesus presents Himself as the Great Physician
It is okay to struggle. Everyone struggles. The Key Question:
Is my struggle driving me toward God or away from Him?"
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