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Submitted by: Danes C. Ganancial Subject: Foundations of Ministry

Submitted to: Rev. R. Villalobos Iloilo Foursquare Bible College

PERSONAL LIFE: JESUS OUR PERFECT STANDARD

Reflection to the Gospel of Luke 2:52

“And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and

in favor with God and man.”- Luke 2:52

In the bible, Jesus owned many outstanding personal traits, that is ideal and good for us to

pursue being a perfect example to follow as part of our individual basic character. In Luke 2 verse

52, shows that Jesus is ‘Our Perfect Standard,’ in our very way of living as Christian. As a child, He

was subject to His parents (Luke 2:51; Eph. 6:1; Col. 3:20). He was about His Father's business at an

early age, i.e., He was interested in spiritual things while just a youth (Luke 2:49; Eccl. 12:1). He

lived, not selfishly, but for others (Mark 10:45; Phil. 2:4). He accomplished God's will in His life

(John 6:38). He left an example that all believers can follow (1 Pet. 2:21).

In this article, though, we want to look at His development that is related in Luke 2:52. The

four areas in which Jesus grew that are revealed in that passage -- wisdom, stature, favor with men,

and favor with God -- are those areas we must emphasize as we look to our own lives.

Wisdom. To advance in wisdom is to grow intellectually or mentally. Wisdom is "the

quality of being wise; the power of judging rightly and following the soundest course of action, based

on knowledge, experience, understanding." Wisdom's importance is emphasized by Solomon in

Proverbs 3:13-26.

While one should give attention, especially when young, to his education, he should "give

diligence" (2 Tim. 2:15) to gain knowledge of the Bible. A good understanding of its teachings is far

more valuable than an education at the finest academic institutions.

Stature. To advance in stature is to develop physically. Jesus developed a strong, healthy

body. Our bodies are to be instruments of our service (Rom. 12:1; 6:12-13) and temples of God (1

Cor. 6:18-20).
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There are three essentials to a strong body: eat proper food, exercise moderately (1 Tim. 4:8)

and keep it free from diseases.

Favor with Men. This is to develop socially. It has to do with human beings living together

as a group in a situation which requires they have dealings with one another. Man is created a social

being: to live one with the other. It is not in man's nature to live alone (Gen. 2:18). He is to be a

gregarious being.

We need to learn to love people. It makes it easy to live with them. Jesus associated with all

kinds of people -- publicans, sinners, Samaritans -- because He loved them (John 3:16). Jesus always

tried to influence those with whom He associated to be better people setting the proper example of

behavior before them.

Favor with God. This is the spiritual development that ought to characterize every child of

God. The importance and value of the soul is seen in Matthew 16:26 where it is shown to be of

greater value that all the amassed wealth to be found in the world.

Basically, the essentials for spiritual development are the same as those for physical growth:

proper food, exercise and freedom from disease. The correct spiritual food is the Bible (Acts 20:32; 1

Pet. 2:1-2). Spiritual exercise is the application of the word of God to one's life which results in

proper character development and worthwhile service to the Lord and others. Freedom from disease

is being pure and "unspotted from the world" (Jas. 1:27) by keeping one's lusts in check.

Wisdom – Mental/ Intellect

The four types of intelligence include: (1) Spiritual Intelligence, (2) Emotional Intelligence,

(3) Mental Intelligence, and (4) Physical Intelligence

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(1) Spiritual Intelligence. Operationalizing the construct, they defined spiritual intelligence

as "the capacity of an individual to possess a socially relevant purpose in life by understanding 'self'

and having a high degree of conscience, compassion and commitment to human values."

I took inspiration from Danah Zohar defining the 12 principles underlying spiritual

intelligence, my goals includes:

1. Self-awareness. Knowing what I believe in and value, and what deeply motivates

me.

2. Spontaneity. Living in and being responsive to the moment.

3. Being vision-and value-led. Acting from principles and deep beliefs, and living

accordingly.

4. Holism. Seeing larger patterns, relationships, and connections; having a sense of

belonging.

5. Compassion. Having the quality of "feeling-with" and deep empathy.

6. Celebration of diversity. Valuing other people for their differences, not despite them.

7. Field independence. Standing against the crowd and having one's own convictions.

8. Humility. Having the sense of being a player in a larger drama, of one's true place in

the world.

9. Tendency to ask fundamental "Why?" questions. Needing to understand things and

get to the bottom of them.

10. Ability to reframe. Standing back from a situation or problem and seeing the bigger

picture or wider context.

11. Positive use of adversity. Learning and growing from mistakes, setbacks, and

suffering.

12. Sense of vocation. Feeling called upon to serve, to give something back.
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Definitions of spiritual intelligence rely on the concept of spirituality as being distinct from

religiosity - existential intelligence. What is my action? Regarding my ‘Spiritual Intelligence’ First

I’ll improve on my self-awareness. I’ll see to it that I am spontaneous in my way of life. I wan to be

vision-and value-led as possible. I’ll be holistic in my relationships, and connections. I’ll be

compassionate and be able to have a deep empathy to others. I’ll be valuing others even if we have

differences. I’ll express my independence and have my individual own convictions. I’ll live life

with humility. Also I will always ask the "Why?" questions, if needed on any situations I’m going to

face. I’ll stand back and observe myself, and be aware of the circumstance or problem, so that I could

see the bigger picture in a better perspective. I’ll be positive or optimistic, so that I will always be

learning and growing from my mistakes, setbacks, and suffering. Finally, I’ll practice the sense of

vocation, that I’m ready of my calling to serve,

(2) Emotional Intelligence. Emotional Intelligence is defined as the ability to sense,

understand, and effectively apply the power and acumen of emotions as source of human energy,

information, connection and influence (Cooper, 1997). Both the intrapersonal and interpersonal

relationships are two major components of emotional intelligence in order for an individual to adapt

with his inner self as well as his environment for him to achieve his goals. The four cornerstones of

emotional intelligence are described as follows (Tenedero, 1998):

Emotional Literacy. This knowing one’s emotion; includes among others, the ability to

read and understand the power of one’s emotion. This builds upon self-awareness, inner guidance,

respect, responsibility, and connection.

Emotional Fitness. The individual has the capacity to manage his emotions, which builds

authenticity, resilience and trusting relationships.

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Emotional Depth. This is the ability to hone one’s emotional for a purposeful or meaningful

life. When one is experiencing negative emotions, he can turn them into something positive. In

order words, empathy is the name of the game.

Emotional alchemy. This is called an emotional synergy, i.e., the ability to understand and

recognize the emotions of others and to make use of them in reaching out to other people.

Our ability to control emotion is important in directing and managing our emotional

experiences in our lives. It calls deliberate effort on our part to sustain our positive emotions while

preventing ourselves to express the negative ones. In the aspect of my ‘Emotional Intelligence’ my

goals includes:

1. I will be Emotionally Literate. I want to know one’s emotion. I want to develop the

ability to read and understand one’s emotion. I want to build upon self-awareness, inner guidance,

respect, responsibility, and connection.

2. I want to be Emotional Fit. I want to be able to have the capacity to manage emotions that

will build a character of authenticity, resilience and to be able to trust others

3. I want to develop an Emotional Depth. I want to have the ability to hone others to make

them meaning to their lives. If ever I’m experiencing negative emotions, I could easily be optimistic

or can turn situations into something positive. I want to empathize to others as well.

4. I want to develop in Emotional alchemy. I want grow the ability to understand and

recognize the emotions of others and to make use of my experience in reaching out to other people.

Experts suggest that there are attitudes and characters we must possess in order to achieve

emotional control, and it includes avoiding emotion-provoking situation, changing the emotion

provoking situation, increasing skills for coping with situations, re-interpreting the situation, keeping

on moving towards goals, finding substitute outlet and finally developing a sense of humor. What is

my action? Regarding the aspect of my ‘Emotional Intelligence’ First, I will be Emotionally Literate.
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Second, I will see to it that I’m Emotional Fit in any circumstance. I will manage my emotions so

that my resilience and trust others will be expressed. Third, I will be in Emotional Depth. I will hone

others. Whenever I’m feeling negative emotions, I will easily be optimistic. Fourth, I will practice

Emotional alchemy, so that understand and recognize the emotions of others and I will make use of

my experience in reaching out to other people.

(3) Mental Intelligence. Human intelligence, mental quality that consists of the abilities

to learn from experience, adapt to new situations, understand and handle abstract concepts, and

use knowledge to manipulate one’s environment.

Intelligence is defined as general cognitive problem-solving skills. A mental ability involved

in reasoning, perceiving relationships and analogies, calculating, learning quickly… etc. Earlier it

was believed that there was one underlying general factor at the intelligence base (the g-factor), but

later psychologists maintained that it is more complicated and could not be determined by such a

simplistic method. Some psychologists have divided intelligence into subcategories. For example

Howard Gardner maintained that it is comprised of seven components: musical, bodily-kinesthetic,

logical-mathematical, linguistic, spatial, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Other definitions are:

“Intelligence is what you do when you don't know what to do.” “Intelligence is a hypothetical idea

which we have defined as being reflected by certain types of behavior.”

4. Physical Intelligence

Physical Intelligence is a high level of understanding and the active management of our

physiology that enables us to develop excellent performance. Chemicals – neurotransmitters and

hormones – largely dictate how we think, feel, speak and behave. We can influence the balance of

these chemicals with the strategic use of our minds and bodies. Underpinned by neuroscience,

Physical Intelligence techniques and insights enable us all to operate at a differentiated level, putting

us firmly in the driver's seat of our own performance.

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There are several kinds of physical intelligence. Highly trained athletes have a particular and

high degree of physical intelligence including coordination, quick response time, supreme eye-hand

coordination, endurance, etc.

‘Physical Intelligence’ is our ability to detect and change the balance of key chemicals in our

bodies and brains that control how we think, feel, speak and behave – to become our happiest, most

successful, resilient and least stressed selves. Experts believe it’s critical to our ability to thrive in a

fast-paced, highly demanding world. The four elements of ‘Physical Intelligence’ is vital to achieving

more, stressing less and living more happily, my goals includes:

1. Strength. It includes posture, breathing, vocal and confidence-building exercises critical to

improving inner strength – enabling us to be more assertive, productive and independently minded.

2. Flexibility. Discover how to boost the 4 key flexibility chemicals to adapt and connect

better to others and enhance creativity and innovation, essential for success.

3. Resilience. ‘Physical Intelligence’ helps us take charge of our response to pressure,

generate optimism and let go of failure.

4. Endurance. Try targeted techniques that help us stay motivated and determined, increase

our energy and enable us to break through the pain barrier to achieve long-term goals.

Physical intelligence is rather different and is based on the ability to listen to your body. It

could be as basic as knowing when you’re hungry or when you’re full. It’s recognizing the gut

reaction in response to a decision-making moment. It’s a way to know how you feel emotionally and

anticipating an emotional response before responding inappropriately. It’s knowing how to “turn up

the volume” on the language of the body to make it easier to hear its voice.
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More interesting than that, physical intelligence engages the body to train neural pathways to

help you change an inappropriate and ineffective emotional response to an effective response that

best serves the moment and your best self.

When it comes to my ‘Physical Intelligence,’ what is my action? First, I will exert and wear

my Strength. I’ll show my best posture, develop my breathing techniques, vocal and confidence-

building to improving my inner strength, to be more assertive, productive and independently minded.

Second, I’ll be Flexible. I will boost the 4 key flexibility chemicals. I’m going to adapt and connect

better to others and enhance creativity and innovation, essential for success. Third, I will apply my

Resilience. ‘Physical Intelligence’ helps us take charge of our response to pressure, generate

optimism and let go of failure. Fourth, is I will be Enduring. I’ll stay motivated and determined, I

will increase my energy and enable us to breakthrough the pain barrier to achieve long-term goals.

Stature – Physical aspect of your life

To advance in stature is to develop physically. Jesus developed a strong, healthy body. Our

bodies are to be instruments of our service (Rom. 12:1; 6:12-13) and temples of God (1 Cor. 6:18-

20). There are three essentials to building a strong body: eat proper food, exercise moderately (1 Tim.

4:8) and keep it free from diseases. In the area of the physical aspect of your life my goals includes:

1. To have a healthy strong body suitable for my age

2. To develop a balance life in the physical area

3. To manage the stress of life

In the Body aspect

1. Diet and Food

2. Exercise and Physical Body

3. Sleep – at least eight hour sleep daily

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4. Recreation – down time, time with friend and family

5. Physical and Dental Checkup – I’ll visit my doctor and dentist

What is your action?

1. When it comes to my diet and my choice of food, I will eat low carbohydrates and high

protein food. I will eat more fruits and vegetables also.

2. When it comes to my Exercise and Physical Body, I will see to it that I work-out,

sometimes I go for a 3mile or 5km run or walk

3. When it comes to sleep, I’ll see to it that I get 8-hour sleep a day. 7-hour sleep is ok.

4. When it comes to my recreation I will choose to attend Godly activities, enjoy Christian

recreation

5. When it comes to physical and dental checkup, I’ll visit my doctor every 6-month and

visit my dentist atleast twice or trice a year.

God – Spiritual

This is the spiritual development that ought to characterize every child of God. The

importance and value of the soul is seen in Matthew 16:26 where it is shown to be of greater value

that all the amassed wealth to be found in the world.

Basically, the essentials for spiritual development are the same as those for physical growth:

proper food, exercise and freedom from disease. The correct spiritual food is the Bible (Acts 20:32; 1

Pet. 2:1-2). Spiritual exercise is the application of the word of God to one's life, which results in

proper character development and worthwhile service to the Lord and others. Freedom from disease

is being pure and "unspotted from the world" (Jas. 1:27) by keeping one's lusts in check.

Favor with Men –Social

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This is to develop socially. It has to do with human beings living together as a group in a

situation that requires they have dealings with one another. Man is created a social being: to live one

with the other. It is not in man's nature to live alone (Gen. 2:18). He is to be a gregarious being. In

my life’s social aspect my goals includes:

1. I need to learn to love people. To easily live and mingle with different kinds of people,

having different character as well. Just like Jesus, He associated with all kinds of people like the

publicans, sinners, Samaritans -- because He loved them (John 3:16).

2. To influence people, to share salvation and the good news to people. Just like Jesus He

always tries to influence those with whom He associated to be better people setting the proper

example of behavior before them.

What is your action?

1. I will love people. I will do my love walk everyday. I will easily deal and mingle with

people. I will be good to anybody, even if they have a different ethnicity, race, color or kind. I will

still treat them with respect. I will even love those who hate and my enemies, being Go as my

example. Different kinds of people, having different character as well. Just like Jesus, He

entertained all kinds of people because He loved us all.

2. I will influence people, encourage, and gladly share salvation and the good news to all

men, again Jesus being the perfect example. I will associate to different kinds people.
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Sources:

https://www.padfield.com/1998/character-building.html

Calabio-Trajeco, Ma. Shirley Ph.D. (2007). Psychology in Perspective: Theories and Applications

Wikipedia contributors. (2019, November 8). Spiritual intelligence. In Wikipedia, The Free

Encyclopedia. Retrieved 19:52, December 8, 2019, from

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spiritual_intelligence&oldid=925174351

[Koenig, H. G., McCullough, M., & Larson, D. B. (2000): The Handbook of Religion and Health.

(NewYork: Oxford University Press, 200)

Zohar, D., SQ: Connecting with Our Spiritual Intelligence, London: Bloomsbury (paperback 2000),

ISBN 1-58234-044-7

https://www.britannica.com/science/human-intelligence-psychology#:~:targetText=Human

%20intelligence%2C%20mental%20quality%20that,to%20manipulate%20one's

%20environment.

http://www.brainmetrix.com/intelligence-definition/

https://www.companiesinmotion.com/what-is-physical-intelligence

https://andrea-isaacs.com/emotional-physical-intelligence/

https://cassiefairy.com/2019/04/12/posture-techniques-to-boost-your-pi-win-a-copy-of-physical-

intelligence/