I talked to my pastors at the end of last year about Spiritual Disciplines. (I always speak of this topic in capital letters in my mind). I was wanting to learn more about them and how to practice them, but I didn't quite know where to start.
They lent me several exceptional books on the subject. The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives by Dallas Willard is a phenomenal book that focuses on the What and Why of Spiritual Disciplines. The Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth by Richard Foster focuses more on the How behind the Spiritual Disciplines.
In fact, I blitz-read Foster's book last fall, with a plan forming in my mind. I asked for an e-book version of The Celebration of Discipline so that I could return the borrowed book and still be able to go through it again more slowly in order to put what I read into practice.
My plan for this year is to focus on a different Spiritual Discipline each month. I will reread its chapter and focus on worshiping God through the practice of each additional Discipline.
Richard Foster's book divided the Disciplines into 3 groups, with 4 Disciplines in each section:
1) Inward Disciplines-meditation, prayer, fasting, study
2) Outward Disciplines-simplicity, solitude, submission, service
3) Corporate Disciplines-confession, worship, guidance, celebration
This layout allows me to select a different Discipline for each month. These aren't the only Disciplines out there, but these are the ones I am starting with.
Each month, I will hopefully have a little devotional thought to share on the different Disciplines.
Why, Liz? Why are you studying the Spiritual Disciplines? The simplest answer I can articulate is this: "Jesus practiced them and I must follow my Lord's example."
Jesus commanded His disciples, His followers, to obey Him and keep His commands. Did I mention that disciple and discipline come from the same root word, by the way?
Two questions keep popping into my mind as this new year opens:
*If someone casually observed me, would they come to the conclusion that I am a Christian?
*If someone came to that conclusion, would they be intrigued to know more about my Savior or would they be repulsed?
The hard truth is that my life looks all to similar to a moral non-Christian's life.
I present a frazzled, harried picture of a Christian's life far more often then I care to admit.
I won't be going out and joining a convent (I'm pretty sure that I'm ineligible as a wife), but the Spirit is serenading me to come and learn from Him. Come and follow the path He laid out in His Word and His inspired traditions. Then I will meet with Him as I go about my life in His world. Then the answers to the questions in my mind will be yes instead of no.
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