Our Evolutionary Ascent to Christ's Love

11/9/2025

Galatians 5:22-23:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

Last week I mentioned a law of God known as the Law of Vibration. Everything vibrates. Even our emotions have various energies – good vibes and bad vibes – as they are called.

Psychiatrist and spiritual teacher, Dr. David R. Hawkins, created a map of Consciousness, a scale ranging from low-energy states to the highest states. The lowest levels of consciousness, with the heaviest, or lowest vibrations in ascending order include shame, guilt, apathy, grief, fear, desire, anger, and pride. These emotions are catabolic, or life-destructive. They are ego driven and associated with an external struggle to overcome opposition. Life is experienced as a victim. We would never pray for any of these emotions; they weaken our bodies, minds, and spirits.

Positive emotions, or higher vibrations in ascending order include courage, integrity, neutrality, willingness, acceptance, reason, love, joy, peace, and oneness with God. These emotions build us and strengthen us. They are associated with personal empowerment and compassion; they attract rather than coerce. 

It must be said that the full range of emotions are normal expressions of our humanity, and we will experience all of them regularly, sometimes the entire scale in one day. Although we label them positive and negative emotions, they are neither good nor bad. That seems weird to say, especially if we are talking about the lowest levels, such as shame or guilt. But even they can have value and help us from doing or saying mean and unproductive things. Of course, we want to spend as much time as possible at the higher, more spiritual levels.

This week we celebrate Veteran’s Day. As we reflect on the ones who have served their country on our behalf, we can grow in gratitude for what they have given to us and what they have had to endure to provide that gift. In John 15:13 we are told, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” Veterans Day is a time to honor those who have served with courage and devotion, many giving their lives for our freedom. Yet behind every battlefield and uniform lies an inner battle—the struggle to rise from fear to love, from pride to peace. This is an evolution of consciousness, and in the light of Scripture, it mirrors our spiritual path toward Christlikeness.

Our veterans faced several battlefields. One of fighting an enemy intent on causing us harm, but also a battlefield of invisible scars and silent struggles, one of coming home and finding peace, and also a battlefield of fear and survival. The lowest levels of emotions – shame, guilt, apathy, grief, and fear – represent human suffering and disconnection from divine truth. Many soldiers faced these emotions in war and upon returning home.

Psalm 23:4 says, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.” Fear loses power when the heart becomes aware of God’s presence. Veterans teach us the first spiritual victory – staying faithful amid danger, knowing the Lord walks beside us.

On the scale of consciousness vibrations, the emotions of courage and integrity are the first virtues of empowerment and worth. Joshua 1:9 declares, “Be strong and courageous...for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Veterans exemplify this truth. In choosing service, they embody courage not as recklessness but as conviction grounded in honor.

Integrity, the other entry level emotion associated with higher consciousness, is essential to both faith and duty. Veterans who live by conscience rather than convenience echo Romans 12:2 – “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”  Courage and integrity, as demonstrated in our veterans, are the crucial turning points on our ascendence toward Christ mindedness, and where inner transformation begins.

Beyond integrity, courage, willingness, and reason lies love – the transformative energy that anchors the Gospel. Jesus taught love not as sentiment but sacrifice. When a veteran risks his or her life for others, that act mirrors divine love. 1 John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear.” Love redeems the wounds of war and heals the traumas of the past, expanding the heart from personal survival to collective compassion.

At the highest levels of Hawkins’ scale are enlightenment  and peace – states of being in union with God. Philippians 4:7 calls this “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding.” For followers of Christ, this peace is not a reward after battle but a presence that transforms every moment. Veterans who have seen the fragility of life may find this peace through surrender to Christ – the realization that true victory is not over enemies, but over ego and division.

Through the example of the veterans, and even our own life experience, we can perceive the journey and the effort it takes to move from the darkness into the light of Spirit. The world wants to suck us down into despair, guilt, and shame. But Christ came to show us that our true being is love, joy, and peace. 

So how do we rise above and transform our current energy? Living in the higher frequencies of consciousness involves deliberate spiritual practice, transformation of thinking, and alignment with Biblical principles. Philippians 4:8 gives us advice on how to dwell in those loftier vibrations: “And now, dear brothers and sisters, fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” 

Where are our thoughts? When we become aware of them, and we do not like the direction they are taking us, we can impose new thoughts over them. Alternative thoughts such as love, thanks, peace, and joy can disrupt the influence of those lower energies.

Scripture encourages believers to renew our minds and hearts, seeking spiritual awakening and awareness. Ezekiel 36:26 reveals God’s promise: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.” This newness is realized as we cultivate gratitude, humility, compassion, and forgiveness – qualities found at higher levels of the consciousness scale.

We do this in our prayer time when we center our thoughts on Christ and God’s divine presence. We change our thoughts by changing our focus.  Repeating affirmations or Biblical mantras such as “God is love” or “I am Spirit,” fosters uplifting thoughts. This can be done at any time during our day. If we experience turmoil, we can change our thoughts to, “Peace, be still.”

Let us focus attention on the present moment to move beyond analytical thinking and embrace God's presence with our heart. We can “rest in the Lord,” releasing resentments and ego-driven patterns, which opens the heart to higher frequencies.

Transitioning from fear, shame, or guilt into courage and acceptance is a pivotal spiritual step. This can be realized by surrendering the need for control, seeking Christ within, and living out love towards others, echoing Jesus’ example of abundant life and compassion. At the highest levels, the mind quiets, self-centered patterns dissolve, and we embody a peaceful presence rooted in divine love. ​

Veterans Day invites us not only to remember sacrifice, but to rise in consciousness—to walk from fear into love, from pride into peace, from the battlefield of the world into the sanctuary of God’s presence. It is my prayer that we honor our veterans by embracing the same inner courage they have shown outwardly, striving each day toward the higher calling of Christlike awareness.