God wants us all to grow spiritually – both as a group and individually. How we grow individually depends on how much we as children of God invest in the process. In other words, to achieve the level of spiritual maturity that God desires for us, it is important that we realize our personal responsibility. It is an individual pursuit, occurring within the Church through instruction from those ordained for the task and based on the doctrines established by Christ through the apostles. The Church, in a sense, functions as a nursery and maternal training ground for its children to grow to full spiritual maturity. The maturation process varies with each child, as all parents know. The outcome of this process rests upon the child, although the family and instruction aid greatly in the child’s success. A child will experience setbacks, failure and many tests – all of which can contribute to growth in a positive direction. The point of this is that each child is to develop a personal reliance upon and relationship with its parents while it navigates life’s turbulence and accepts accountability to change, grow and meet the standard set for them. The spiritual analogy is evident. God is our Father, we are His children. He wants us to grow and gives us opportunity and teaching so that we may. But once again, the responsibility lies clearly with us.
When we look at how God governs us we see a spiritual model – that of the family. God is a family – He is our Father, the Church is our mother and Jesus Christ is our brother. God created the human family and it is the family, that is, the family model of spiritual government that God uses to call, teach, discipline and lead His people to spiritual maturity. It is a system of loving authority designed to work with spiritually-minded members of the body, albeit all at different stages of development, to get them where God the Father wants them to be. It results in mutual submission, forbearance, patient endurance, loving kindness, being responsive to authority in the Church and faithfulness to the Father.
All of the aforementioned characteristics are those of a loving child of God – something that all of us should be striving to become throughout our natural lives. There should be a constant movement in our minds from the physical to the spiritual – in other words, we should be becoming more like our Father and our Elder Brother. In reality, this occurs with certain individuals, some partially making the transition, and others never making the move, being content to remain “members” of a physical organization(s) and not engage in the arduous journey required for spiritual maturity.
Our more profound understanding of the comprehensiveness of the Gospel has helped us to understand many things more clearly. The Gospel is most assuredly a message concerning the coming Kingdom of God. But understood in its broadest sense, it also includes the message that we as individuals have a responsibility to become like our Father. It is the vehicle by which God is conveying His nature, purpose and plan for mankind. As a person understands and lives by the Gospel, in all its many facets, that person grows in his or her relationship with the God family because the gospel conveys who the God Family is, explains what they are doing and reveals their minds.
The majestic plan of God, revealed by God to those having His Holy Spirit and those striving to enter into a spiritual relationship, provides illumination and understanding into the mind of God and His great love for His creation. It explains how God is healing the separation that occurred in the Garden of Eden through Satan’s deception. God’s plan, as pictured through His Holy Days, reminds us that He loves us and has a purpose for us. It is up to us to put forth the effort to learn and grow – and if we do, God will help us every step of the way!
Announcements
Work is currently being done to simplify the U.S.-Feast registration system. We will test it soon and then open it up to everyone for Feast site information and registration.
The German Feast site is now accepting applications. If you are interested in attending with us in Bad Neuenahr, please contact Cliff Veal at clifftonveal@me.com for more information.
The Weekly Perspective this week is another in a series on the Gospel. Work continues to be done on a longer more comprehensive paper. Soon we will compile the material into one place on the website.
Council of Elders
