2026-02-28 Lent - Day 11 Lent - Second Saturday of Lent Good Morning! My prayer is that you are spiritually growing this Lenten Season. Today we are going to look at why spiritual growth is important. Let’s look at part of a conversation between Jesus and one of the Jewish leaders, Nicodemus. The subject being “born again”. 4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. This conversation is in the Gospel of John in the third chapter. Let’s break down for today the flesh, the soul, and the Spirit. We are all born biologically through our mother. That is of course the physical birth. Biblically speaking, we are all born into sin. The water Jesus is referring to represents the cleansing of our spirit. The early Greeks were a very wise and profound people and culture. They broke the human being down into three distinct parts. The body- This is our physical being, made up of tissue, bone, blood, etc that makes up the human body. The ashes on Ash Wednesday represent the fact that from dust we came and to dust we shall return. The Soul- The soul is the second component described by the Greeks and is the life component. The soul connects us with every living thing. The animals for example. They are born, live for a time, then they die. The soul is the battery if you will, that gives life to all living creatures. The Spirit- The Spirit is eternal. It is the component that gives us a direct kinship to God. The Spirit gives us wisdom, intellect, the ability to distinguish right from wrong, etc. No matter how you believe life began, whether that be God scooping up the clay from the earth and breathing into it creating Adam in Garden of Eden; or the theory of evolution, or the Big Bang theory, it really doesn’t matter. What does matter is God is the Creator. We could argue til the cows come home how God did it, but we must first believe that GOD DID DO IT. Jeremiah 31:33 reads; "I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people". When we are born again, the Holy Spirit that lives in all of us is ignited. We have a desire to love from our heart and are no longer driven by the flesh. We grow in compassion, empathy, and we see things differently. When we begin to see things through the eyes of God, especially early in our “rebirth” it is very common to get very emotional. To even cry when we clearly see for the first time the pain in the world. For the first time, the darkness in the world. For the first time to recognize that people can be very cruel, cold and greedy. When you have a heart of God you feel pity for those people. We pray for those people. Sometimes in Lent, we sadly recognize those traits in ourselves as well. That is when repentance becomes our best weapon. Give God praise today and ask for forgiveness for the pieces that are found in all of us that are impure and not clearly connected with the Holy Spirit. Blessings,