What Healthy Spirituality Looks Like

There are a lot of different versions of what “spiritual” means these days. The book of Proverbs gives a clear picture of what a well-lived, God-infused, focused spirituality looks like. Consider these five statements from Proverbs 10 about what a “godly” or “spiritual” person looks like.

10:3 The Lord will not let the godly go hungry, but he refuses to satisfy the craving of the wicked.
People who trust in God may struggle, but they won’t starve. Not over the long haul, anyway.

10:6 The godly are showered with blessings; the words of the wicked conceal violent intentions.
God responds to those who trust Him with good things.

10:9 People with integrity walk safely, but those who follow crooked paths will be exposed.
People who trust God are the same people everywhere they go. Because they are anchored in integrity, their inner and outer worlds are consistent. The result? They never have to worry about being exposed, because they’re never actually hiding anything. The crooked? They’re always scrambling to cover their tracks, because they have tracks to cover. They walk through their days looking over their shoulders, they never know when their lies will catch up with them.

10:21 The words of the godly encourage many, but fools are destroyed by their lack of common sense.
Godly people get fed.
Godly people get blessed.
Godly people get confident, because their integrity protects them.
Godly people get influence, because their words are constantly lifting the people around them.
Their counterparts, the fools, are constantly getting burned by bad decisions.

Spiritual people live by the law of common sense: Is this choice wise? Will it honor God and others?

And then there’s one more:
10:24 The fears of the wicked will be fulfilled; the hopes of the godly will be granted.
The godly get their hopes granted, but only because their hopes are aligned with God’s hopes.
They get what they want because they want the right things.
The wicked? Their darkest fears are realized. They can’t keep ahead of their own paranoia, insecurities or inadequacies. Try as they might, they can’t evade what they don’t like.

Now, the life of the godly isn’t perfect, but it’s rich. On many levels.