When I was 18 years old, my mother wanted me to take voice lessons so I could maintain my vocal quality and not abuse my voice by singing incorrectly. I continued these vocal lessons well into my first years of marriage and even taught voice myself. I learned to sing with control, increased my range, learned what chest voice and head voice meant, learned to sing by using my diaphragm, using my back muscles, how to “place” my tones, learning the appropriate stance, how to breathe correctly, singing consonants and vowels correctly, singing a variety of scales – the list goes on. I practiced faithfully everyday. I learned how to sing phrases in one breath. My instructor taught me how important vocal warm-ups were to opening up my voice. I learned to sing in many different languages and a variety of styles. My ear was being trained to hear correctly, my voice being trained to sing correctly. Through this training and constant practice, I became a mature singer who expressed emotion through my voice.
For those of us who desire christian growth, who desire to mature in our understanding of God and His word, who want to “distinguish good from evil”, it is imperative that we train our spiritual senses. How do we train our spiritual senses? How are we able to tell what is true from what is false? Simply by constant practice.
- Personal Devotional Time. We cannot neglect God and expect to become mature. Transformation comes and begins with time spent in His Word and in prayer.
- Obedience. When our desire to obey the Lord is stronger than our attraction to sin, we’ll know we are making progress in our spiritual life.
- A Disciplined Lifestyle. Lifestyle is the way we live. We must discipline ourselves, as the scripture says, for the purpose of Godliness, having a focused vision. How we live shows who we truly are.
Those who are mature in Christ, recognize their own inadequacy and rely on the Holy Spirit within them.
We have been given a choice in this scripture.
We can choose to remain immature and unskilled in discernment, or we can choose to press on to maturity and train our powers of discernment.
What will your choice be?
By Sharon Lobbs Garner