5. I have previously mentioned the “formation” of the inner life. There is, in some traditions within the Christian church, a study made (if not a college degree) in spiritual formation. The term itself suggests that there is education to be done and progress to be made by the believer.
It behooves us to develop and openness to this training and a commitment to this progress. The Bible clearly describes believers in different stages of spiritual growth, including: Infants, babes, children, adults, the mature, as well as weak, strong and spiritual.
Spiritual teachers over the centuries have also talked about the advances that believers should make, using images such as ladders to be climbed by the rung; a mountain to be scaled by stages; a castle being entered from the outer to the innermost chamber.
Medical science has found that exercising the mind can strengthen the brain’s resistance to some forms of dementia. So does the use of the spirit keep the inner life strong, prepared and ready to be put to use by your will once submitted to God.
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