As I shared with you in the last issue of this article, the first real level of spiritual development involves a true lessening of egotism and self-centeredness. We know that we are beginning to become more spiritual when we think less of ourselves and more of others – when our main concern is not just for ourselves but for others.

We see this graphically portrayed in the Person of Jesus. His whole life was, after He began His ministry, directed towards helping others. He was not as concerned about Himself as He was for others.

It is the nature of infants to be only concerned about their own survival. They only seek to ameliorate their own needs and desires. So there is a self-centeredness that directs all of their actions.

When we get to a point in our own lives where we are not only concerned about ourselves and begin to think about others, we know that we are beginning to become spiritual beings in the true sense of the words. We are becoming more like Jesus Christ.

The process of spiritual development is to move from self-concern to concern for the happiness and well-being of others. This is made possible when we begin to truly trust that God will provide for us.

This begins when we truly know in our heart of hearts that we are loved by our Creator and that, if we place our hope and trust in Him, He will see that we have all that we really need.

This also means that we reach a point where we trust that God will provide all that we need and we don’t think about all that we want. This happens when we understand that what we want may not be what we need and we trust that life, which is inspired by God’s Spirit, will give us what we need.

True spirituality begins when we surrender our thoughts and desires for what we want and know that God, through life, will provide us with what we need to become true children of God.