Are You More Spiritual Than Religious - Essay Example

Are you more spiritual than religious? More religious than spiritual? Why do you answer as youdo? What do these terms mean? Is the external/internal distinction important? In the context of spirituality, a man is said to regard a personal relationship (Taylor) with God in a level that far exceeds obedience to the established set of laws in religion. While religiousness normally confines men to the knowledge of good and evil in deed along with their respective consequences in heaven and in hell, spiritual training takes a faithful follower to discern the truth in the wisdom of choosing to be righteous based on love for the Supreme Being.

Being able to distinguish one from the other in a gradual process of understanding myself with respect to an introspective approach of determining my state of conviction, I get more spiritually than religiously inclined to believe how God’s affection truly works as long as I maintain communication with Him by means of praying and reading the Scriptures. With a more unbounded and spontaneous prayer, I gain an in-depth understanding of how significant it is to communicate with God in an intimate way not like with the religious tradition of having to attend the church where abiding by the order of customary ritual seems obligatory by nature.

No one could be at fault on becoming ceremonious but in most cases, the monotony of a religious routine lacks the essential power to move one’s faith to the level of sincerity. Though it is possible to increase maturity with the knowledge fed in religion, I could personally attest that by experience, it only makes an individual generate more of fear than of love and appreciation of beliefs. If my faith mostly rests on apprehension and I get to dread God due merely to the constant thought about the absolute fate of human deeds in the day of judgment which religion occurs to have inculcated in every follower, my growth as a believer would be stagnant without the heart for real advocacy since external observation is given more emphasis over reparation of internal brokenness.

Thus, a religious endeavor without consideration to the spiritual aspect that constitutes development of inner strength is futile and empty. On the contrary, the spiritual essence of walking with faith, having a profound sense of knowing God as a father rather than as a distant authority remarkably places meaning and recognition to the real value of faith. By being spiritual, I am motivated to go by the natural course of acting righteously because I have confidence in knowing that a loving relationship with God is capable of vouchsafing internal security.

Apparently, internal distinction signifies the role of spirituality on shaping the way human believers deal with faith to direct its focus on well-being enhancement which is quite undermined by the external treatment of religious behavior toward principles of holy and blameless living. Work Cited Taylor, A. “Spiritual Growth Personal Relationships.” 23 Feb 2011. http://thecheyennestar.net/2011/02/23/spiritual-growth-personal-relationships/. 26 Feb 2011.