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"Try to become not a person of success, but try rather to become a man of value."
â€"Albert Einstein
The approaches to personal development are: Secular, which is a self help form; this is a bonafide approach in that it can help folk to become better human beings and live more successful and meaningful lives. There's also Christian personal development that revolves around having a relationship with God and through his indwelling Holy Spirit we are modified into his image, producing what the Bible refers to as the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith meekness and temperance. (Galatians 5:16)
One thing true for both of the above approaches is what Carl Rogers wrote: "The curious anomaly is that when I accept myself just as I am then I will change." Before any change can take place there needs to be an acceptance of ourselves right where we are and then we can kick off the process of change. Accepting ourselves where we are is not a pass card to remain there, nevertheless it acknowledges a beginning place for improvement.
The most important difference between the 2 approaches is that Christian personal development stress man's spiritual connection with Our Lord God with God's transforming work in man's spirit while the mundane emphasizes man's effort to enhance himself. Both approaches recognise spirituality as a crucial part of it, but have different definitions as to its meaning.
Spirituality is not to be confused with Spiritualism, but refers to that which is beside the point or unseen. It is through the spirit that somebody is able to come in contact with the quintessence of their deepest being or with their deepest values and meanings. Getting in touch with and growing the spiritual side or inner self is the objective.
The science of today recognizes the spiritual side of man, though it doesn't make a connection with a higher Deity or God. Today society in total also recognizes spiritual reality but has different applications as the way to exploit it for the better. So there is a Devine application to spirituality as well as a secular one. Spirituality is widely known as an inner force to be handled and is believed to have an immediate bearing on how we live our lives.
Secular definition of spirituality:
"Secular spirituality emphasizes humanistic qualities such as love, compassion, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, happiness, responsibility, harmony, and a concern for others, sides of life and human experience which go past a purely materialist view of the planet, without necessarily accepting belief in a supernatural reality or divine being. Religious practices like mindfulness and meditation can be experienced as advantageous or maybe necessary for human accomplishment without any mystical interpretation or reason. Spirituality in this context might be a matter of nurturing thoughts, emotions, words and actions that are in step with an idea that everything in the universe is jointly dependent" A modern mundane definition is as follows:
"Spirituality exists wherever we grapple with the difficulties of how our lives fit into the larger scheme of things. This is true when our questions never give way to specific answers or give rise to specific practices such as prayer or meditation. We encounter spiritual issues each time we wonder where the universe comes from, why we are here, or what takes place when we die. We also become non secular when we become moved by values such as beauty, love, or creativity that seem to show a meaning or power beyond our identifiable world. An idea or practice is "spiritual" when it exposes our private wish to build a felt-relationship with the deepest meanings or powers governing life." (Definitions from Wikipedia Encyclopedia)
Divine definition of spirituality:
The Divine definition of spirituality, while welcoming some of the same qualities as secular humanism, for example love, compassion, patience, toleration, compassion, happiness, responsibility, harmony, and a concern for others, goes further and is founded on the premise in the Bible of the fall of man which happened when Eve ate of the banned fruit in Genesis 3:6the result was sin entered the world and also death as the result of sin. Death not only included physical death but also non secular death. Death is a separation. Physical death is a separation of the spirit from the body while non secular. Death is a separation of man's spirit from the Meaning of God, the Holy Spirit.
Thus so as to realize the full benefits of Christian growth and God's promises of the Bible for eternal life, joy, peace, contentment and purpose in this life, it's a necessity to have a new connection with Almighty God which results in having the indwelling of his Holy Spirit, which resides within our spirit.
God thru the Holy Spirit then directs all of life through sanctification, which is setting man apart from the general activities of sin and the flesh and repositioning him in the actions of the Devine nature of the Holy Spirit which is Love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, temperance and meekness (Galatians 5:16-22). It no longer becomes an act of reforming our methods it is allowing the Holy Spirit to supply his methods in us. Then our help comes from God and not a self help form of growth as taught by Tony Robins as well as the AAA and most personal growth sites on the Web.
I definitely don't mean to belittle the sterling work that Tony Robbins, the AAA and secular personal improvement does. It's right that folks can become better human beings through self help. What I assert is, Christian personal growth places the stress on God's indwelling Spirit and his work of transformation instead of our self effort, which naturally is far better than nothing at all, but misses the sign of what God can do.
The first responsibility of anyone that desires Christian personal development is to learn how to have a relationship with Almighty God.
Conclusion:
No effort put into your personal improvement is wasted, whether or not it is a mundane approach or Devine approach. The difference it makes in the quality of life cannot be denied and indeed will determine the quantity of success, purpose and happiness in life.
â€"Albert Einstein
The approaches to personal development are: Secular, which is a self help form; this is a bonafide approach in that it can help folk to become better human beings and live more successful and meaningful lives. There's also Christian personal development that revolves around having a relationship with God and through his indwelling Holy Spirit we are modified into his image, producing what the Bible refers to as the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith meekness and temperance. (Galatians 5:16)
One thing true for both of the above approaches is what Carl Rogers wrote: "The curious anomaly is that when I accept myself just as I am then I will change." Before any change can take place there needs to be an acceptance of ourselves right where we are and then we can kick off the process of change. Accepting ourselves where we are is not a pass card to remain there, nevertheless it acknowledges a beginning place for improvement.
The most important difference between the 2 approaches is that Christian personal development stress man's spiritual connection with Our Lord God with God's transforming work in man's spirit while the mundane emphasizes man's effort to enhance himself. Both approaches recognise spirituality as a crucial part of it, but have different definitions as to its meaning.
Spirituality is not to be confused with Spiritualism, but refers to that which is beside the point or unseen. It is through the spirit that somebody is able to come in contact with the quintessence of their deepest being or with their deepest values and meanings. Getting in touch with and growing the spiritual side or inner self is the objective.
The science of today recognizes the spiritual side of man, though it doesn't make a connection with a higher Deity or God. Today society in total also recognizes spiritual reality but has different applications as the way to exploit it for the better. So there is a Devine application to spirituality as well as a secular one. Spirituality is widely known as an inner force to be handled and is believed to have an immediate bearing on how we live our lives.
Secular definition of spirituality:
"Secular spirituality emphasizes humanistic qualities such as love, compassion, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, happiness, responsibility, harmony, and a concern for others, sides of life and human experience which go past a purely materialist view of the planet, without necessarily accepting belief in a supernatural reality or divine being. Religious practices like mindfulness and meditation can be experienced as advantageous or maybe necessary for human accomplishment without any mystical interpretation or reason. Spirituality in this context might be a matter of nurturing thoughts, emotions, words and actions that are in step with an idea that everything in the universe is jointly dependent" A modern mundane definition is as follows:
"Spirituality exists wherever we grapple with the difficulties of how our lives fit into the larger scheme of things. This is true when our questions never give way to specific answers or give rise to specific practices such as prayer or meditation. We encounter spiritual issues each time we wonder where the universe comes from, why we are here, or what takes place when we die. We also become non secular when we become moved by values such as beauty, love, or creativity that seem to show a meaning or power beyond our identifiable world. An idea or practice is "spiritual" when it exposes our private wish to build a felt-relationship with the deepest meanings or powers governing life." (Definitions from Wikipedia Encyclopedia)
Divine definition of spirituality:
The Divine definition of spirituality, while welcoming some of the same qualities as secular humanism, for example love, compassion, patience, toleration, compassion, happiness, responsibility, harmony, and a concern for others, goes further and is founded on the premise in the Bible of the fall of man which happened when Eve ate of the banned fruit in Genesis 3:6the result was sin entered the world and also death as the result of sin. Death not only included physical death but also non secular death. Death is a separation. Physical death is a separation of the spirit from the body while non secular. Death is a separation of man's spirit from the Meaning of God, the Holy Spirit.
Thus so as to realize the full benefits of Christian growth and God's promises of the Bible for eternal life, joy, peace, contentment and purpose in this life, it's a necessity to have a new connection with Almighty God which results in having the indwelling of his Holy Spirit, which resides within our spirit.
God thru the Holy Spirit then directs all of life through sanctification, which is setting man apart from the general activities of sin and the flesh and repositioning him in the actions of the Devine nature of the Holy Spirit which is Love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, temperance and meekness (Galatians 5:16-22). It no longer becomes an act of reforming our methods it is allowing the Holy Spirit to supply his methods in us. Then our help comes from God and not a self help form of growth as taught by Tony Robins as well as the AAA and most personal growth sites on the Web.
I definitely don't mean to belittle the sterling work that Tony Robbins, the AAA and secular personal improvement does. It's right that folks can become better human beings through self help. What I assert is, Christian personal growth places the stress on God's indwelling Spirit and his work of transformation instead of our self effort, which naturally is far better than nothing at all, but misses the sign of what God can do.
The first responsibility of anyone that desires Christian personal development is to learn how to have a relationship with Almighty God.
Conclusion:
No effort put into your personal improvement is wasted, whether or not it is a mundane approach or Devine approach. The difference it makes in the quality of life cannot be denied and indeed will determine the quantity of success, purpose and happiness in life.
About the Author:
Jimmie Burroughs has been concerned in teaching Private Development on and off for more than 30 years. He is a dedicated disciple of Jesus Christ and considers helping people his calling in life. His website contains many articles on preparing yourself for successprivate.
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