Growth in Christ

1
Growth in Christ

• Sin and Beyond

2
Growth in ChristSin and Beyond

• The Spiritual Exercises is primarily an
  experience that allows you to discover Gods will
  for you in your life
• The Exercises are meant to be very personal
• Try to avoid general or abstract language
• the reading tells us that we need to be good
  people
• God is telling me that I need to be more patient
  with my brother

3
Growth in ChristSin and Beyond

• The Exercises give us an experience of grace
• In hearing God speak directly and personally with
  us, we are usually filled with some type of
  feeling
• I was excited that God would speak directly to me
• Write about your experiences (no matter how
  strange or irrelevant they might seem) and your
  feelings

4
Growth in ChristSin and Beyond

• Prior to looking at our sin, we saw how God has
  been present in our life
• What was our response to that loving presence?
• Gratitude
• What grace did that gratitude produce or give to
  us?
• Generosity

5
Growth in ChristSin and Beyond

• We recognize that despite our desire to be
  generous we oftentimes fail to respond as
  generously as we would like
• We feel sorrow for not being as grateful in our
  actions as our heart desires

6
Growth in ChristSin and Beyond

• That sorrow has the opportunity of producing the
  grace of an intense or renewed desire to respond
  with greater generosity

7
Growth in ChristSin and Beyond

• In addition, it allows us to contemplate the
  question
• What is Gods response to our sin?
• Similar to the question How does God see me?
• Allow us to experience Gods love in the midst of
  our sinfulness
• God honestly loves us (warts and all)

8
Growth in ChristSin and Beyond

• What is our response to Gods insistence to love
  us?
• Do we have the courage to accept Gods acceptance
  of us?

9
Growth in ChristSin and Beyond

• Such questions may lead one to consider that they
  desire a deeper, personal, more intimate
  relationship with Jesus
• Honesty and openness encourage intimacy

10
Growth in ChristSin and Beyond

• Rather than letting sin become a stumbling block
  and keeping us from the love that God desires to
  share with us it can actually lead to a closer
  relationship
• Our friends know our faults and love us anyway

11
Growth in ChristSin and Beyond

• Some common graces
• I desire a sign or proof of God
• I desire for increased trust in God and that he
  wants to help me
• I desire Gods love
• God wants to be there for me in big and small
  things
• An understanding that God gets excited about me!
• God loves me with great passion and is willing to
  make sacrifices for me

12
Growth in ChristSin and Beyond

• Some common graces
• God invites me to a spiritual feast
• A feeling of being filled with Gods love and
  happy
• A desire to truly believe and to have faith in
  God
• Gods love for me is strong and cannot be damaged
  or destroyed
• I desire to trust Gods plans for me and my life
• I want God to calm and soothe me
• I want God to be patient with me