Religion Versus Spirituality

Religion versus Spirituality is a common topic of debate in our society.  Religion is a man-made means of worshiping God. Unfortunately, religion and "doing Christian things," in many cases, replaces spirituality.  It's called legalism.  When this happens, Christians find themselves overloaded and overwhelmed with "Christian Things to Do," and "Christian Things Not to Do."   They suffer under the burden and many crash and burn.

This is the very reason that Jesus came, walked the earth and died on the cross; to free us from the burden of legalism, the fear of failure and guilt of not being able to measure up.

Far too many Christians have been taught that their spirituality lies in going to church and doing good deeds. Obviously, going to church and doing good deeds are important aspects of life, but Biblically speaking, spirituality comes first. Going to church and doing good deeds follows. 

In other words, there must be a source behind the good deeds and the source must be God.

God wants to have a personal, internal relationship with you so that your good deeds are His good deeds.  That is how He gets things done. God is a Spirit God, therefore a relationship with Him must start on the inside.

• John 4:23-24
  23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." NIV

Religion Versus Spirituality in My Life

Several years ago, I made the decision to return to God. My family was falling apart and I was living in hell. You can view my testimony here if you would like to know more. God delivered me from my miserable existence, so the first thing I did was return to Church.

Before long, I found myself in the kitchen washing dishes, on the grounds pulling weeds, working in the office, singing in the choir; chores, chores and more chores. I did this, because I thought it would make me a better Christian. I thought I had to pay for my years of living the way I wanted to. In return, I got more anxiety, more stress and my family fell apart anyway.

I left that church, and made the decision to sit down, shut up and put my student hat on. I chose Jesus Christ as my teacher and absolutely, no one else. In the contest between religion versus spirituality, I chose the spirit; the Holy Spirit of course.

Three years later, the same people at the same church marvel at the changes God has made in my life. Some don't even recognize me. I've changed that much. I am a totally different person, both physically and spiritually!

These changes were made within my spirit first, and then worked their way outward. Not the other way around.

Once you understand Religion versus Spirituality, you may find you have been missing something. Hopefully, you will choose to enter into a healing relationship, directly with your father, God.