Ritual or Spiritual? – I Corinthians 2:13
“Ritual or Spiritual?”
“Which things also we speak, not in the words which
man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth;
comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” I Corinthians 2:13
I never noticed the word ritual at the tail end of the word
spiritual until a couple of days before writing these thoughts.
I guess I needed to ruminate on the word(s) a few days.
“loose” definition of a ritual would be rites or prescribed
performances of especially religious efforts. Something that
is spiritual in nature would be sacred, holy, moral in attributes
of life and life’s actions. Being truly spiritual would be in great
contrast to just performing rituals. I think sometimes we seem
to be spiritual but are just going through the motions. Perhaps
in the sight of other folks, we are doing quite well. In contrast,
from God’s perspective or point of view, we are abject failures!
In Colossians 2:23, Paul speaks of will worship, humility
and neglecting the body. The preceding verses (16-22)
basically say lots of items are just of the world and have little
place, if any, in a Christian’s life. Chapter three of Colossians
tells one how to live the Christian life, develop Christian
character and have a Christian home.
In our verse, Paul implores us to compare spiritual things
with spiritual. Perhaps some of the rituals we believe make us
spiritual are the things that make us unspiritual and bound by
the rites of mere religion. Just saying … – T.G.
Prepared by Roger Fulk, from excerpts from the “Baptist Bread” May 31, 2023, devotional by author Dr. Tim Green, Revival In Our Time, Day Heights, OH. With permission from Tim Green, editor of Baptist Bread.
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