Does your spirituality match your age? This is a question I often ask older adults in my workshops and seminars. Yes, the question might be considered a bit factious and of course what does it really mean? Yet, while we prepare as best as we can for our physical and financial needs as we age, we also need to achieve some understanding of the meaning of our lives, i.e., our spirituality.
We can’t pretend that people 65+ experience only glorious possibilities. We face a variety of problems including:
- Managing chronic health conditions
- Grief caused by loved ones’ deaths
- Loss of meaning and purpose in our life
- Loss of relationships
- Limitations in our mobility
- Increasing dependence
Aging also presents new challenges for our spiritual maturity. While losses occur throughout our lives, they often come at a faster pace in the later years. Loss — one of the great spiritual challenges of aging — bombards our spiritual well-being as we grow old and face our own mortality.
However, God’s gift of long life brings with it gains and losses — both of which can lead to the continued development of spiritual well-being and spiritual maturity. While our bodies may fail as we age, the Holy Spirit is still giving new life to our spirits.
As church leaders, it’s helpful to remember that spiritual well-being is not something achieved one time at a younger age. Growing older requires nurturing the spirit. As older adults, we must work to sustain and nourish our spiritual well-being which can guide us into spiritual maturity.
Spiritual maturity comes from integrating our relationships with God, other people, nature, and our own sense of finiteness. For the Christian, the sense of spiritual maturity can be best understood from Jesus in the Great Commandment when he said: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10: 27). Loving God, neighbor, and self is basic Christianity.
The Apostle Paul emphasized “living by the Spirit, and not the flesh.” Paul describes spiritual maturity as being filled with the fruit of the Spirit, growing in “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).
When living by the Spirit, older adults embody the fruit of the Spirit and grow in spiritual maturity. Which of these fruits would you like to have a greater presence in your life as you grow older?
John Pavlovitz, author of If God is Love, Don’t Be a Jerk, said, “As a lifelong Christian by aspiration (if not always in practice), I often envision an exasperated Jesus coming back, and the first words out of his mouth to his followers as his feet hit the pavement being ‘You had one job: Love. So, what happened?’” Pavlovitz later writes, “There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.”
As we age and grow older, may we do more than know the path. May we grow in our spiritual maturity by wholly living our faith. This is the portion of spiritual life exemplified in activities involved in our spiritual practices — worship attendance, Bible reading, prayer, Holy Communion, and putting our faith into practice in our service to others.
This year, look for ways to enhance and grow your spiritual maturity. Begin by identifying faith sages in your church and community — people who model spiritual maturity and bear the fruit of the Spirit. These are people who are committed to humanitarian work, inspired by their faith, sustained by their spiritual practices, and live each day with hope and possibility. Then, seek ways to embody the fruit of the Spirit in your life, growing your own spiritual maturity.
Dr. Richard Gentzler, director of Older Adult Ministry, oversees ENCORE Ministry’s mission of providing older adult ministry resources, leader training, and consultations. For more information, email Gentzler at rgentzler@encoreministry.org or call 615-400-0539.
Director’s comment: In the February 2025 issue of ENCORE Ministry Connection, I will share ideas for spiritual practices for older adults.