So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Colossians 2:6‭-‬7 NIV

When people ask how I am at the moment, my most common response is “I’m getting stronger every day” and It’s true, little-by-little, I am getting better. My response is largely down to my assessment if how I feel.

However, if I was asked about the state of my spiritual health I’d find it a lot harder to answer. In fact it’s perhaps not a question we ask of each other that often.

For both physical (and mental) health we can often use very tangible measures to assess how we are:
Am I in pain? Do I feel tired? Do I feel happy or sad? Do I feel better than yesterday?

If we try to measure our spiritual health based on how we feel, then its possible that we may conclude that God seems distant, prayers seem unanswered and our faith feels weak and inaffective.

One tangible measure of Spiritual health we can use, is…
Where do we go to when we hit the highs and lows of our lives? What is our first instinct?
Do we congratulate ourselves when things go well or do we instinctively give thanks to God?
Do we blame others or curse our own misfortune when things go badly or do we turn to Jesus and the truth of who he is and who we are in him?

The instinct to turn to Jesus is born out of our relationship with him and the daily discipline of spending time with him. It’s in these times that we become “rooted and built up in him”

Sometimes God will meet with us in Extraordinary ways. Ways that can often change the course of our lives, bring great revelation, bring healing and restoration. These are all things to celebrate and I pray God does this more and more both individually and more broadly in our churches.

The foundations of good spiritual health, however, are often built in the Ordinary routines that we develop over time. These can even sometimes feel very mundane, often there is no great revelation, no healing or restoration.

But it is in these disciplines that we sustain and grow in our faith. If we do this little-by-little and day-by-day we will grow spiritually stronger – “strengthened in the faith … and overflowing with thankfulness”. This is perhaps a true measure of how we are.