July's Spiritual Discipline is the Corporate Discipline of Celebration. In The Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth, Richard Foster encourages Christians to practice this discipline often and well.
We celebrate because we can trust God to provide.
We can celebrate because we are free from anxiety and care. We give those things to God.
The joy of the Lord is our strength. Joy is what allows us continue in the various disciplines. We can practice the disciplines because of the joy of the end.
Celebration and a joyful spirit is central to the spiritual disciplines. It helps us avoid falling into the trap of becoming a Pharisee.
As carefree gaiety and thanksgiving infuses our practice of the disciplines, we exhibit lightheartedness and cheerfulness.
Obedience leads to joy. Joy stems from obedience. Joy comes through obedience. Joy is due to obedience. What kind of obedience? Obedience that we practice in and through our daily lives.
This isn't to say that we don't have trials and pain still, but that we have joy throughout our circumstances, not as we dodge around them. God transforms us in our misery and trials. Joy isn't a way to bypass or avoid life's pain.
Joy is the fruit of the disciplines' work as God uses them to transform us.
Foster goes on to say that we should be care not to fake celebrations. We shouldn't celebrate nothing. We shouldn't try to force people to be grateful if they are not. We shouldn't celebrate evil, but we should be thankful in all situations.
Celebration is about being anxious for nothing. Another translation tells us to be careful for nothing or full of care for nothing. This is the negative side of rejoicing or what not to do.
On the positive side of rejoicing, we are supposed to pray and praise. This is the road to peace.
We should fill life with simple good things and thank God for them. We make a conscious effort to focus on the good instead of the bad. This is a force of will and a choice we each get to make. This act of choosing is what makes celebration a discipline.
Celebration is a reminder for us not to take ourselves too seriously. We can laugh at ourselves.
We can cultivate a wide appreciation for life, as we relax and enjoy God's presence.
Celebration helps us keep things in a proper perspective. As we are able to laugh at ourselves, we find ourselves less judgmental of others and ourselves. This allows us to evaluate if our causes are really significant and monumental or just a temporary, hot button issue.
Joy leads to more joy, a spontaneous joy. We are able to sing, dance, and shout. Just as there is a time for silence, there is also a time for noise and laughter.
Did I mention that we can laugh at ourselves? We can cultivate clean jokes and cleverness. We don't always have to be profound and serious. We can practice clean creativity, fantasy, and imagination in ourselves and others.
We can celebrate milestones and rites of passage with family and friends. We can take cultural festivities and celebrate them in wholesome ways. Celebrate small joys and achievements. Rejoice in quality time with loved ones.
Don't forget to celebrate your pastors and celebrate with them. There are opportunities to practice this discipline if we invest our time and energy into it. It need not be a big money investment for celebration.
Celebration is the discipline the gives strength to the other disciplines. God can use celebration to deliver us from misery, which leads to joy and more celebration.
The earth is the Lord's and everything in it. Relax.
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