The Problem of Emotionally Unhealthy Spirituality
Saul, king of Israel, was instructed by God to fight and completely destroy the Amalekites. He succumbed, however, to the wishes of his fighting men and did only part of God’s will due to a lack of self-awareness (emotional health) and attentiveness toward God (contemplation).
Read
- 1 Samuel 15:7-24
- Verse 11 describes God’s and Samuel’s response to Saul’s actions. What about their response impacts you?
- How does this differ from Saul’s response in verse 12 and 13?
- What might have been going on beneath the surface of Saul’s life that he was unaware of?
- What are some examples of how you go through the motions of making “burnt offerings” and “sacrifices” rather than “obeying the voice of the Lord?”
- What challenges keep you from slowing down your life to be with God?
- In what ways is your life out of balance between contemplation and activity?
3 comments:
v.14 makes me laugh. It's like a parent commenting to the child "Oh, you didn't eat the cookie? Then tell me about that chocolate all over your face."
But then I got to the question about finding where I do the same thing...make "burnt offerings and sacrifices" as a show of obedience to God instead of actually obeying him...and I suddenly felt like I had chocolate all over my face! Ugh. Application...
NancyJ - I wish I could add something more insightful to this conversation. All I can say is that I felt exactly the same way when I got to that question. "Ugh" is right!
Hmm...for me..the question about in what ways is your life out of balance between contemplation and action? That's where I get reminded of that, even though my spiritual "gifting" maybe servanthood / hospitality, it's not enough for me to be running around doing church events and volunteering. I still need to make time to slow down and make time for contemplation. I use my volunteering as a "I'm doing what I'm supposed to do", and use that as an excuse to neglect the quiet time. Sometimes focusing only on what our "gifting" is, that can take our attention away from spending time with God.
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