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Spiritual Development 2

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12 views4 pages

Spiritual Development 2

Uploaded by

Joshua Kanatt
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Joel Kanatt

Cornerstones

Professor Ash

10/30/2019

Spiritual Development Essay

I was born and raised in a Catholic household with a family of 4. Religion was

influential in the house, and it was essential to have Christ in the center of our lives. My parents

introduced me to Christ at such a very young age, and they did their best to make sure I was fond

of Christ. My parents decided to send me to private schools for the majority of my life so that I

surrounded myself with good students and teachers who have a good background in their faith.

Also, my parents had family prayers that I was required to attend daily, and in those family

prayers, we prayed the rosary and some prayers after that. I also went to many talks, events, and

retreats that helped me in my faith in the long run. I was also part of Jesus Youth, which is a

group that was started in the 1970s and expanded globally since. In Jesus Youth, there were

smaller divisions in the local areas for nights of prayer and praise. It was safe to say that in my

younger years, I was brought into the Catholic faith and had parents who were very strong in

their faith to help me be part of it. However, it all changed when my mother had severe arthritis,

and it caused me to doubt if God was here in our lives or not.

Back when I was a kid, I thought the meaning of being a Catholic or even a Christian was

about having a sweet, pleasant life when being with Christ, but after my mom's sickness, I

realized that I was wrong. Life was hard after my mom's illness, mainly because everything went

downhill in a brief period. My family had minimal trips, my dad worked until two or three in the
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morning, and the household was tranquil and depressing. My faith in God started to quiver and

asking him why he would allow for this to happen to us. It also seemed to me that it was only our

family that was inflicted upon this type of suffering. To make it worse, all my friends were

always happy, going out and hanging with friends, and because of my problems, I was stuck at

home in a cold, depressing environment. It all changed, however, when my parents decided to go

on a retreat in Detriot, Michigan. One of the speakers had a small group discussion with the

attendees, and the topic was about suffering. Later on, it turned out that I didn't have it as bad

after all, realizing that people were having far worse scenarios than what I was inflicted with. I

realized that everything wrong in life should be taken positively. Arthritis that my mom had

made me realize that it was a test from God whether or not I will lose my faith in him. Slowly by

slowly, I started to understand why there are such problems in life and why it's essential to stay

close to God during those hard times because it will empower you, and you will not forget God.

The beginning of the suffering allowed me to realize that there is more to faith in Christ. When

there is a problem in life, you should stick with Christ, as that is something that I learned in such

sufferings. Depending on Christ and not wavering in your faith can be your best chance to get

back up and do not lose hope in life or whatever you're going through. Even though all the

sufferings have been said, it is also safe to say that there were multiple blessings in my life,

which allowed to me get back to my faith and not forget there Christ is still by my side. One

example happened back in 7th grade when I had significant migraines, and it was almost

unbearable. I suffered with it for nearly 5 years until my parents prayed for me until one day it

was gone, and it never came back to this day. Another blessing is something that almost

everybody has in their day to day lives, which is having parents or someone to take care of us.

My parents somehow had the money to pay for good schooling even when we came from the
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Middle East, and it's safe to say that God provided for us. I'm also thankful for the suffering that

was given to me because, without it, my faith in Christ wouldn't have been the same.

This year, I started to read the Bible for 30 minutes every day, and it has made a

substantial positive impact on my life. Reading the Bible is a great way to relieve stress and to

calm down in times of trouble. It also helps answer the problems that you might have in your day

to day life. Adding on, reading the Bible helps reassure your faith, and maybe even adds in more

lessons on how you should live your life with Christ. Furthermore, coming to Letourneau

University made me realize that my faith is slowly increasing. The community around me plus

the meaningful friendships that I've developed made me realize that this school is a good fit for

me. For example, I used to think that my plan is more important than God's plan, but now,

however, God's plan is more superior to my plan, and to be happy and contempt, I should follow

his plan.

In the future, I am sure that my faith will grow, and it will keep on growing. Year upon

year, I yearn to increase my faith in Christ and to be given the grace to follow his plans. The

beauty and the journey with Christ is something that should be missed, and every follower of

Christ should take part in it. I hope that one day I can use my talents and my resources for the

glory of Christ and try to bring my fellow friends and strangers to join me when I enter heaven.

As followers of Christ, it is our responsibility to make sure we enter heaven and bring as many

people as you can. I will also trust God with my life and surrender it to him so that I can use

myself to the fullest potential.

As a conclusion, there were ups and downs in my life that affected my connection with

Christ. However, in the long run, these sufferings helped my connection with Christ and I can
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grow closer to him. In the future, I believe that I will use my talents and resources for improving

my connection with Christ, go to heaven, and bring others to eternal life.

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