Taking stock..

Hey guys,

Really don't know if anyone is following anymore. I've been ghost for a minute.
Today also may be more a bible study than anything else but I need to go through..

The last piece I wrote on here was a poem after my cousin died. Something that helped me get through it. You see, writing helps me get through. Sometimes I forget that.

Writing helps me to resolve issues of the mind that are perplexing me. It helps me make sense of life. For some understanding comes through speaking things out. For me it's more writing them down.

Many things have challenged me, and I often think how much have I grown in the time since I last wrote. Sure I've moved higher and further on in my music and grown in my barbering skills but spiritually I wonder honestly how far I've advanced.

In ways I guess spiritual growth is similar to physical growth. Often by looking at ourselves in the now, we can't tell if we've grown and can get discouraged. But when looking at old pictures or talking to people who knew us in a previous stage of life, we can begin to understand where we are now compared to where we used to be. With God levels are different also, as he measures growth in a totally different way to us.

In the Bible, when speaking of growth God often talks about virtue. In the process of spiritual growth, becoming virtuous is important. But what is virtue?

In the dictionary, virtue is behaviour showing high moral standards. 

Yesterday I was speaking with someone I know about friends with faith who don't seem to live this faith out. A cognitive dissonance of sorts. Where we profess one thing, yet live to a standard which can seem quite out of line with our beliefs.

Sure faith is the foundation but once we have grown in faith, our moral standard must begin to match up.

'For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge..' - 2 Peter 1:5

Our moral excellence must then be added to by a knowledge that is based on experience. In other words to cement virtue, we have to gain some practical experience in living it out.

Through this, our faith begins to be built on deeper foundations. Through choosing to be virtuous in normal and testing times we begin to live a life of moral excellence, by it being ingrained into us through our constant practice of it. We also start to know what virtue is for real, because we experience a God who constantly lives it out toward us.

So in terms of this, have I seen spiritual growth since I've last written? Have I begun to exercise virtue more or am I still at the same place?

Being honest, I'm unsure..

Maybe it's time to take stock..