Purpose of Spiritual Development

The purpose of individual spiritual work and spiritual developement is empowerment, to remind you of your divine, spiritual identity. Through the power of your spiritual identity, you become conscious of your
ability to create life experiences. Spiritual work must be done in service and recognition of God. God expects us to serve one another. This requires discipline, focus, and knowledge of spiritual law and principal. It also requires purity of intent and heart. When these elements are absent, you are not building a good character. You are not doing spiritual work for the good of the world. You are doing something else that is bound to blow up in your face. I learned this through experience.

Taken from "Yesterday, I Cried" by Iyanla Vanzant

This is an important concept for me today. I really identified with the sentence.....requires purity of intent and heart. The program of Alcoholics Anonymous teaches me that, "belief in the power of God, plus enough willingness, honesty and humility to establish and maintain the new order of things, were the essential requirements." (P.13-14 Big Book). Purity of intent and heart is really what humility is about. The book further states, "faith has to work twenty-four hours a day in and through us, or we perish" (P.16 Big Book). By doing this I find the empowerment that is talked about in this reading. For me it means daily service to God's people and the power of the choice to follow his will and surrender my will. When I was in the throws of my addiction I had no choices. Now that God's grace has relieved me of the obsession I have choices today. The choices I make will have a direct impact on whether or not I continue to stand "in the sunlight of the spirit" or fall into the shadows of addiction. So long as I make the choice daily to enlarge my spiritual life, to search for God's will and be of services I stand a good chance of being sober today. If I go to bed sober tonight and follow through with those same choices tomorrow than I stand a good chance of being sober tomorrow. It has taken me along time to come to this place....but along the way I have learned that I can't, He can, and I can choose to let him. I am very grateful for the choices I have today, for the gift of sobriety, for the program and all it has taught me, and for the fellowship where I can see by example how to live sober, work with others,and expand my spiritual life.