Rev. Dr. Shane Green wanted to share a First Steps newsletter from the past in conjunction with last week’s letter.
September 9
E. Stanley Jones, an American missionary to India, once said, “There are two groups of people in this world. There is a very big group of people in this world who are miserable. They live for themselves. There’s another group who have given their lives away to others. Their lives are filled with a wild joy.”
This week, find a way to live for another. Notice the people around you. Invite them into your life. Speak words of love and grace to them. In doing so, we can find joy in serving the One who makes us whole.
September 2 (to read again)
What is the connection between emotional health and spiritual maturity? Can someone be spiritual mature and emotionally immature? It has been my experience that the two are related, maybe more than realized. Unfortunately, Christians tend to bifurcate their life. This is spiritual while that is emotional (or relational, physical, or mental for that matter) and think they aren’t related. But they are—very related.
We jump into more Bible study, small groups, worship, prayer, and service thinking it will fix everything. They are helpful but disciplines are tools, not the solution. Emotional health and spiritual maturity are inseparable. As one grows so will the other. Peter Scazzero, a pastor and author, referenced his own life’s struggles to illustrate this point: “I was a Christian for twenty-two years. But instead of being a twenty-two-year old Christian, I was a one-year-old Christian twenty-two times! I just kept doing the same things over and over again.” (Emotional Healthy Spirituality, P.21).
This process was not lost on the Apostle Paul. He wrote this to the Corinthians:
“Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?” (Cor 3:1-3).
The sanctification process has as much to do with how your past experiences influence your present as it does your future. When God makes all things new—some of that work is instantaneous—like our status before God; however, some of that work takes times. A long time! The work of the Holy Spirit involves years of continued transformation. Perhaps past healings lead to future wholeness.
In the coming weeks, I want to use this First Step devotional to identify some of the ways one might bifurcate their life which can lead to spiritual immaturity. I hope you will join me in prayer as we all are going on to perfection. Remember, God’s desire is for all to be whole—spiritually, mentality, emotionally, and physically. 
This Week’s Readings:
- Monday – Exodus 36
- Tuesday – Exodus 37
- Wednesday – Exodus 38
- Thursday – Exodus 39
- Friday – Exodus 40
We are reading the Bible in just a little over a year! We have completed Genesis and are now reading Exodus. You may join anytime. Just mark your Bible on the chapter you started and keep up with the weekly readings.
Things to Pray About:
- Pray for our country and the 2024 Presidential Election.
- Pray for spiritual maturity.
- Our unwillingly absent members and shut-ins.
- Pray for comfort for those who are grieving.
- Wisdom for our church leaders, local leaders, and world leaders.
- Family restoration through forgiveness.
- Continued growth of the faith of the people.
- Pray for understanding.
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.” – Philippians 4:6