Inspire(d) Growth

I find that reading people (and their blogs) and seeing how they have grown in Christ truly inspiring. It is always encouraging to see how their faith has grown. And I do not speak in a way that suggests that I am "better" than them. I find that in the larger scheme of things we are nothing without God. Although I would advocate for treating everyone above yourself. :P

I have decided that one of the things I want to do in life is inspire spiritual growth in people. Now if any of you know me, some would say "Aren't you doing that already?", and "Context?". I'll answer here:

Aren't you inspiring spiritual growth already?

Sure, I am...but one can always improve. God has given unique talents and abilities to each of us...are we maximizing its effectiveness? This will be further explored below.

In what manner will you inspire spiritual growth?

Although I do truly want people to grow in Christ, there was always a bit of pride attached to it. There was that tiny bit of satisfaction knowing that I was a "spiritual leader". God is breaking down that pride, and I have figured out a new weapon to add to my spiritual arsenal.

A couple of days ago, I posted about the "Head Fake" from a Carnegie Mellon professor video. Basically, a head fake is having conversations with an underlying message that may not particularly be associated with the topic of the conversation. Yes, it would seem misleading...but seriously, every conversation has a hidden meaning. Would it not be beneficial to have an intentional spiritual message in our conversations without the awkwardness (and awkward silence) that comes with "Hi! We're going to talk about spiritual stuff now!"?

I'm not advocating for the constant use of the head fake. I always enjoy discussing Jesus to any that will listen. Rather, there will be times that intentional spiritual conversations with some people will be dry. The head fake provides the opportunity to have conversations that people can relate to with an underlying message of Jesus.

So what I truly want...is that after meeting with me, people won't be thinking...Gee, Richard is a really dedicated brother in Christ. I want them to be thinking God.