The patriarchs of our faith have long engaged in spiritual
disciplines as part of their life journey. They have determined ways in which
they may honor God through obedience to His clear mandates or through modeling
the behaviors of our Savior Jesus. Research on the spiritual disciplines will
uncover numerous practices, but each fall into one of two categories:
disciplines of abstinence or disciplines of engagement. Spiritual disciplines
are identified as such either because God or Jesus commanded them or Christ
Himself practiced them. Dallas Willard identifies the purposes of the
disciplines in this way:
“The aim of disciplines in the spiritual life--and,
specifically, in the following of Christ--is the transformation of the total
state of the soul. It is the renewal of the whole person from the inside,
involving differences in thought, feeling and character that may never be
manifest in outward behavior at all. This is what Paul has in mind when he
speaks of putting off the "old man" and putting on the new,
"renewed to resemble in knowledge the one who created us..." (Col.
3:10)”
With this in mind, for the next few days, we will briefly
explore six of the many spiritual disciplines that we can engage. Because this
will not be an in-depth study, I would encourage you, in your personal time
with Christ, to explore the disciplines further and to pray about those which
the Lord would like you to make a part of your relationship together.
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