trying to establish a colony, William Bradford and the Pilgrims persevered, depended upon God and joyfully gave Him thanks. Thankful hearts emerged from tremedous hardships. Contrary to the world's philosophy, in God's economy when give up we receive even more. It applies to our spiritual life, and hence our lives. When I give up or engage in activities for the purpose of growing my spiritual life, I receive so much more in riches of God's blessing and the change of my character into more and more the likeness of Christ.The more we know God, the more thankful and awestruck we are of His grace. However, in our state of being enamored with the world we perceive around us and our trival pursuit of fulfilling our desires, we must practice spiritual disciplines. Spiritual Disciplines allows the person who practices them to act righteously and do what needs to be done when it needs to be done, no excuses needed.
The list below is from a classic book on spiritual disciplines called The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard. There are basically two types of spiritual disciplines as he puts it: “Abstinence and engagement are the outbreathing and inbreathing of our spiritual lives,…”
Disciplines of Abstinence
Disciplines of Abstinence
“...to abstain from the sensual urges—the evil desires, the passions of the flesh [your lower nature]—that wage war against the soul.” 1 Peter 2:11
“If we feel any habit or pursuit, harmless in itself, is keeping us from God and sinking us deeper in the things of earth; if we find that things which others can do with impunity are for us the occasion of falling, then abstinence is our only course. ...It is necessary that we should steadily resolve to give up anything that comes between ourselves and God.” W. R. Inge
1. SOLITUDE—We purposefully abstain from interaction with other human beings, denying ourselves companionship and all that comes from our conscious interaction with others.
2. SILENCE—We close off our souls from “sounds,” whether those sounds be noise, music, or words.
3. FASTING—We abstain in some significant way from food and possibly from drink as well.
4. FRUGALITY—We abstain from using money or goods at our disposal in ways that merely gratify our desires or our hunger for status, luxury, or glamour.
5. CHASTITY—We purposefully turn away from dwelling upon or engaging in the sexual dimension of our relationships to others, even our husbands or wives.
6. SECRECY—We abstain from causing our good deeds and qualities to be known.
7. SACRIFICE—We abstain from the possession or enjoyment of what is necessary for our living—forsake the security of meeting our needs with what is in our hands.
Disciplines of Engagement
1. STUDY—We engage ourselves, above all, with the written and spoken Word of God.
2. WORSHIP—We engage ourselves with, dwell upon, and express the greatness, beauty, and goodness of God through the use of words, rituals, and symbols.
3. CELEBRATION—We enjoy ourselves, our lives, our world, in conjunction with our faith and confidence in God’s greatness, beauty, and goodness.
4. SERVICE—We engage our goods and strength in the active promotion of the good of others and the causes of God in our world.
5. PRAYER—Almost always practiced in conjunction with other disciplines, prayer is a discipline in which we converse with God in light of His ceaseless presence.
6. FELLOWSHIP—We engage in common activities of worship, study, prayer, celebration, and service to other disciples.
7. CONFESSION—We let trusted others know our deepest weaknesses and failures.
8. SUBMISSION—We engage the experience of those in our fellowship, who are qualified to direct our efforts in growth and who then add the weight of their wise authority on the side of our willing spirit to help us do the things we don’t want to do.
2. SILENCE—We close off our souls from “sounds,” whether those sounds be noise, music, or words.
3. FASTING—We abstain in some significant way from food and possibly from drink as well.
4. FRUGALITY—We abstain from using money or goods at our disposal in ways that merely gratify our desires or our hunger for status, luxury, or glamour.
5. CHASTITY—We purposefully turn away from dwelling upon or engaging in the sexual dimension of our relationships to others, even our husbands or wives.
6. SECRECY—We abstain from causing our good deeds and qualities to be known.
7. SACRIFICE—We abstain from the possession or enjoyment of what is necessary for our living—forsake the security of meeting our needs with what is in our hands.
Disciplines of Engagement
1. STUDY—We engage ourselves, above all, with the written and spoken Word of God.
2. WORSHIP—We engage ourselves with, dwell upon, and express the greatness, beauty, and goodness of God through the use of words, rituals, and symbols.
3. CELEBRATION—We enjoy ourselves, our lives, our world, in conjunction with our faith and confidence in God’s greatness, beauty, and goodness.
4. SERVICE—We engage our goods and strength in the active promotion of the good of others and the causes of God in our world.
5. PRAYER—Almost always practiced in conjunction with other disciplines, prayer is a discipline in which we converse with God in light of His ceaseless presence.
6. FELLOWSHIP—We engage in common activities of worship, study, prayer, celebration, and service to other disciples.
7. CONFESSION—We let trusted others know our deepest weaknesses and failures.
8. SUBMISSION—We engage the experience of those in our fellowship, who are qualified to direct our efforts in growth and who then add the weight of their wise authority on the side of our willing spirit to help us do the things we don’t want to do.
More to Come
In the coming weeks we will look at these disciplines individually.
Thanksgiving Wishes
Before I go, hope you and yours have a great and safe Thanksgiving. Here is a little humor form Jeff Larson from "the back pew."
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