People often talk about four types of human intelligence: Intelligence Quotient (IQ), Emotional Quotient (EQ), Social Quotient (SQ), and Adversity Quotient (AQ). In Spiritual Intelligence, Kris Vallotton introduces another dimension of intelligence, Spiritual Intelligence, whose abbreviation is “SQ”, similar to Social Quotient’s. While human intelligence is largely determined by genetics, environment, experience, and upbringing, Spiritual Intelligence is a divine gift from God.
Born-again believers have received the Holy Spirit, also referred to as the Spirit of wisdom and revelation (Eph 1:17), whom we’re told will lead us into all truth (Jhn 14:26). The Holy Spirit brings divine wisdom and knowledge by allowing believers to tap into the thoughts of God, through the mind of Christ.
Kris breaks down spiritual communication into five primary categories:
- Think: Processing existing knowledge with divine wisdom
- Know: Receiving supernatural facts not inspired by natural cause, communication, or insight.
- Feel: This is often “multisensory” and allows one to sense the spiritual atmosphere or others’ emotional and physical pain.
- See: Using the “eyes of the heart” to receive visual or imaginative instruction
- Hear: Being highly sensitive to hearing the sound, words, and inner voice of the holy spirit
To nurture our spiritual intelligence, we need to renew our mind, which Kris explained as a way of rewiring the neural pathways of our brain through scriptural meditation i.e. getting rid of negative pathways and creating new ones by declaring God’s word out loud. Such a practice aims to move the promises of God from high values into core values, allowing us to see reality through a new lens.
The Bible talks about three heavens: the first heaven, the visible one that we live in and experience every day. The second heaven, which is the realm where evil spirits operate. The third heaven, where Christ is, and it transcends the previous two. Because born-again believers are seated with Christ in this realm (Eph 2:6), we have the power to live from heaven toward earth, rather than reacting to our circumstances. This point of view allows us to be problem solvers using the wisdom of the third heaven to fix the broken parts of the world.
It’s important to note that believers have an enemy, the devil works round-the-clock to distort God’s voice (Eph 6:16). Hence, we should practice discernment since the devil is also well capable of giving us thoughts, voices, or feelings that may seem good, but end up being destructive.
Spiritual intelligence is not confined to church activities but is also a tool for use in the real world to bring about transformation. God, the Father of invention, has equipped and empowered Christians to be solutionaries who apply third-heaven revelation to solve first-heaven problems in fields such as engineering, science, and technology, bringing about breakthroughs that will not only impact this generation but also build a legacy for our children’s children.