Spirituality should not be confused with dry religion. Spirituality is practiced when a person believes they can have an actual relationship with a divine being or the spirit world. Spirituality is synonymous with a sense of peace and security. There are different kinds of spirituality, some positive and some negative. We will discuss both.
How do you define spirituality? Spirituality is relational. A spiritual person believes they can commune with the supernatural and be at peace with all the world and the things around them. Certain religious practices are often involved in spirituality, but these are unnecessary for a person to be considered spiritual.
While people who do not consider themselves especially spiritual measure their lives by the standards of the physical world, spiritual people adhere to a different measure. They measure their life by divine standards and spend time speaking with and being spoken to by God or other spirits they believe in.
Spiritual people access a different plane than people bound by the world’s physical constraints. They are present here on earth but also in a grand spiritual story, which is playing out behind the scenes.
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The Definition of Spirituality
Unlike religion, in the strictest sense of the word, spirituality involves encountering a divine being, not simply worshipping.
Here are some aspects that are present in true spirituality:
- Belief in a divine being or spirit(s) and that being’s desire to interact with us
- Meaningful prayer or communication
- Messages from the supernatural world
- The belief that spirits, rather than coincidences, are affecting our daily lives
- Relationship
To experience and participate in spirituality, first, you must believe in a supernatural or spirit world. This requires the knowledge that there is more to our lives than meets the eye.
It is the belief in invisible forces, usually pulling and nudging us toward good or bad behavior. To participate in spirituality, you must not only believe in God but also believe he wants to interact with you.
Spiritual people put their money where their mouth is. They believe in the supernatural and communicate with it through prayer. Someone who truly wants to experience the Spirit of God will communicate with him regularly and expect that he will also communicate with them.
Religious books, such as the Bible, have examples of God communicating with man.
This can happen through a voice, dreams, visions, or prophets. In Christianity, all scripture is believed to be “God-breathed,” meaning God inspired the writing of the Bible as a means of communication with all generations to come. Christians believe he speaks to us through the verses in the Bible.
Think of the cartoon character with an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other. It is not that simple, but that somewhat boils down to what spiritual people believe is happening. Good spirits influence our lives in such a way as to help us feel fulfilled and make us want to do good works and the will of God.
Evil spirits try to tempt and influence events around us so that we will go astray. Spiritual people often believe everything happens for a reason and that there are no coincidences.
The spirit world influences things that happen in our lives. We may not see it, but spiritual people believe this great battle between good and evil occurs in our midst.
Consider stories of people who say that angels pulled them out of wrecked vehicles or stories of people who have coded and seen the light or experienced a burning sensation. These are spiritual encounters. Spiritual people believe these things are happening all the time, and it is only in rare glimpses that we recognize them as such.
To be spiritual implies a relationship between a person and the divine being they follow or worship.
God is not aloof and uncaring. He is involved in our daily lives. Spiritual people tend to believe that God regards us as sons and daughters and knows each of us by name. The Bible says God even knows the number of hairs on our heads.
What is Spirituality in Religion?
Spirituality within religion incorporates the rules and practices of religion with the relationship its adherents have with God or the spirit world.
Below are some ways people experience spirituality through religion:
- Music
- Prayer
- Spiritual gifts
- Change in lifestyle
Many people experience God through praise music. Most religions incorporate some music into their worship. This is a popular way for people to center themselves and closely ponder their relationship with God.
Music seems to direct a person’s thoughts away from the day-to-day and help him focus on the spiritual aspects of his religion.
Prayer is usually required in a religious atmosphere, but it reaches a spiritual level when people believe they are interacting with God. For instance, a religion might have a group prayer that is said weekly. This is just a practice. But the spiritual person will utilize that prayer to initiate contact and intimacy with God.
The Bible talks about spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongues and prophesying. These gifts adhere to the rules of the religion of Christianity, but they are also a means of a spiritual experience.
People who speak in tongues often describe it as a “love language” between them and God. A person’s gift might not be so overt. There are also gifts like encouragement, through which people experience God.
If a religion is genuinely alive and spiritually active, it will result in lifestyle changes for those who follow it.
They will want to please God through their actions and feel a supernatural pull to begin living in a way that honors God. People who experience this will say they did not initiate the change independently, but God changed them from the inside out.
How is Spirituality Different from Religion?
Religion tends to be dryer than spirituality. Religion is a set of practices that may not necessarily involve an actual relationship with God.
Religion should be studied to learn more about what individuals value in their lives and what they believe in, understand other cultures and people better, and put our religious beliefs into bigger perspectives.
The most common way to study religion is by reading sacred texts and making personal observations. This might sometimes feel hard, as they are primarily manuscripts written in ancient languages. Other ways that are a bit easier are attending to local communities and sharing experiences with others.
People tend to have difficulties staying engaged in their religious studies, so a diverse youth ministry curriculum can be helpful when trying to stay on track.
Below are some aspects of religion:
- Church attendance
- Formal worship
- Commitment to reading religious books or materials
- Spreading the word about the religion
One does not necessarily have to be spiritual to adhere to religious practices. When we think of these practices, we often think of attending church.
Many people attend church or religious gatherings but do not claim a real relationship with God. They believe God is an omnipotent creator to be worshipped, who may want little interaction with us.
When people gather in a church setting, there is usually music, preaching, and prayer. This spans across religions.
The type of church you attend will help determine how spiritual of a walk you have with the God you worship. There is usually a component of formal or communal worship.
Spiritual people believe they are praising and basking in the love of an intimate relationship with God during this time.
People who are not spiritual but only religious may view formal worship as something they should do to keep God happy.
Though they sing the songs, they may not be experiencing any intimacy with God during worship time.
People committed to a religion usually have a book of scriptures they adhere to and read regularly. Spiritual people believe these books are a means of communication from God. Strictly religious people see books like the Bible more as a set of rules to follow if you want to be a good person and stay in God’s good graces.
To a spiritual person, a book like the Bible is “living and breathing, sharper than any two-edged sword.”
It will appear to be nothing but a book of rules to someone merely religious. They may feel no communication with God through their reading and only complete it out of obligation.
Most religions have a goal of spreading the word and “saving” others through the knowledge of that religion.
Different religions use different means to do this. Some go door to door, asking to speak with you about their convictions. Some go on mission trips, and other people are adamant about recruiting new followers to come to church.
Once again, a simply religious person will only spread the word out of obligation. A spiritual person will want others to have the same communion with God that he experiences.
He desires other people to be able to tap into the spiritual world, which he enjoys. Spiritual people will count it as a joy to spread their religion to others because they believe it to be life-changing.
It is possible to be both spiritual and religious. It is important to adhere to standard religious practices and follow a particular doctrine while experiencing relational intimacy with God.
You do not have to choose between religion and spirituality. They are often intertwined with one another and help make up one’s full spiritual experience.
Types of Spirituality
Three main types of spirituality are worth bringing into this conversation, which you will find in the list below.
The three types of spirituality are as follows:
- Religious spirituality
- Nonreligious spirituality
- Toxic spirituality
We have already covered religious spirituality. This comes from adhering to a religion and seeking to form a relationship with the god of that religion. Most people in the world practice or at least believe in this type of spirituality.
Nonreligious spirituality occurs when people seek to do things that bring them peace. They may do good deeds and describe the feeling that comes with that as “feeding their soul.”
People practicing this type of spirituality are commonly passive and seek to live at peace with all people and nature. Nature is a key component of nonreligious spirituality.
Nonreligious spirituality will involve doing good things, not just for other people, but for the world around us. People practicing this type of spirituality often use meditation to bring peace to their souls.
They may spend a lot of time in nature and are generally lovely people.
Toxic spirituality usually involves some drug or substance abuse. People believe they are achieving a spiritual plan through chemical enhancement.
These people often view hallucinations and the like as spiritual experiences rather than just the effects of a drug.
This is a dangerous road to take to spirituality and is not advisable.
How Do You Practice Spirituality?
You can tap into and practice spirituality in some fundamental ways.
Here are some ways to practice spirituality:
- Prayer
- Meditation
- Scriptural reading
- Seeking to live in peace
- Intentional thinking
Many people believe the spirit world is accessed easily through prayer. Some people pray to saints, believing they will intercede on their behalf.
Others pray directly to God, believing they can access God through prayer. These people believe God is actually listening to them and that he communicates with them as well, through scripture and other means.
Meditation is an excellent way to clear your mind and focus on the spiritual. People from many different religions use meditation to tap into their spiritual side. It is important to find a quiet, calm place to meditate where you will not be distracted. Some people talk to God during this time, and others focus on a mantra or their existence as a spirit, not just a body. Here are some beginner meditation tips to get you started!
To practice spirituality in your scriptural reading, you must focus as if the passages were written just for you. Do not look at the religious book as a dry and dusty text. View it as pertinent to your life and accept what you read as God’s means of communication with you. Some people describe the Bible as their “personal love letter from God.”
To achieve spirituality, you must seek to live at peace with other people and the world around you. Spiritual people are not meant to be instigators. Instead, they are practicing self-control and viewing other living things as being just as important as they are. Practicing kindness, even toward the smallest people and things, is an element of seeking to live in peace.
Spiritual people think intentionally and make decisions based on their religious beliefs. To them, the religion is alive. If you seek to be spiritual, you have to put your beliefs into practice. This involves more than simply attending a Sunday morning service. It consists in moving your life in the direction you feel God is leading you.
Some have a specific point where they feel most enlightened. This is called a spiritual awakening; you can learn everything about it in that article.
We have seen that spirituality may be a part of religion but differs from religion in definition.
Religious people can also be spiritual, but that is not always true. There is such a thing as nonreligious spirituality, in which a person places importance on feelings of peace and goodwill and seeks to be one with all of nature. There is also toxic spirituality, which involves the use of drugs.
Of course, the most popular form of spirituality is religious spirituality. Most people in the world believe in a god of some sort.
Some believe he is far off and aloof and that they must honor him only in practice. These are strictly religious people. Other people think they can have a relationship with the God of the universe – the Creator of All.
While this may seem far-fetched to some people, the relationship between man and God is very real to others. We have discussed how one person may sing a song in church out of habit, while another may consider the song an encounter with God and an opportunity to worship him. People need only to look to the Bible to see examples of spiritual people and their walk with God.
Spiritual people believe God values them enough not only to listen to them but also to communicate with them. We derive this from the spiritual writings of whatever religion we adhere to.
For instance, in the Bible, God spoke to Abraham and Moses and inspired the writing of scripture for all posterity to experience him lovingly and relationally.
Spiritual people believe God still speaks to us through the Bible or other writings today.
They also believe in the significance of dreams, visions, and prophecy. While some of these practices occur in a church, spiritual people think they can experience God anywhere.
There is a difference between this intimate relationship and the mere practice of religion. While spirituality may be tied up in a religion and a particular belief set, religion does not define a person’s experience between themselves and the supernatural world.
