217 / 366
True Religion and Inner Renewal
Our Contributor's Advice on Enjoying True
Religion and Gaining Inner Renewal
True religion is a religion of total submission to a
higher authority-- God. It is also a religion of service to
others. It is very easy to become smug and quite
comfortable in our "good living", so that we forget to
serve others, thereby teaching them not just in word,
but indeed what Christianity truly is.
I believe
selfishness, laziness, and a lack of total surrender to
God are some major hindrances to our having "true
religion." Many of us go through life with a "stunted
growth" in the area of religion. Giving of ourselves,
really giving of our time, talents, money, and our all is
difficult to achieve! And very few of us ever do really
achieve that level of "true religion."
Spiritual awareness comes by knowing God. The
best way to know God is through His word and by
talking with Him in prayer. The more we know God and
His ways, the more "spiritual awareness" we will have.
This earth and all of the worldly ties that trap us and
grip us so tightly will not have such a hold the more we
become aware of God. My strongest counsel in this
area is study, study, study the word of God, and truly
pray without ceasing. Make God real - not some far off
fantasy that we may or may not really believe in.
Probably inner renewal is a bit different for every
person. It may come as a result of a series of problems
that have drawn us closer to God, or by the birth of a
child, or the conversion of a loved one. For myself,
inner renewal comes and goes with life situations. I am
201