The question has come up at our house recently:
"What makes a person spiritual?" Or perhaps, more
to the point, "How can I tell if a person is
spiritual or not?"

We are surrounded by people who would have us think
they were more deeply spiritual than we are. We
see them on television, we hear them on the radio,
we buy their CD's and we meet them face to face
in our families, churches and communities.

Sometimes I am weary of telling my children the
same ole' same ole'. But once again we turn to
the only source for truth there is, the Scriptures.

We can hear flowery words, we can see displays of
emotionalism, but that is not the test God lays
before us.

And so, we departed from our normal family devotions
to speak to these things. We asked them this
question. "Who is spiritual that you know? Who,
of all those you see and hear, is a true Christian?"
The answers came back, "Dad", "Papa", "Billy," and
they could have gone on, but I stopped them there.

"What about their lives make you think they are
spiritual?"

Their replies, "He prays a lot." "He reads the
Bible a lot." "He prays and reads his Bible often."

Then we turned to Galatians 5:22. If a person is
truly filled with the Spirit of God how will that
be evidenced in their lives? Well, let's see....

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering (patience), kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control....

Are these guys perfect? No, but are they on a track
for these fruit being developed in their lives?
Yes! And what are the disciplines in their lives
that bring forth this fruit? Prayer and Scripture
Reading.

Bingo.

Is there a place for displays of emotion? Of course. Are
they a test of spirituality? Of course not.