After reading and considering Whitney's Spiritual Discipline for the Christian Life,
the focus of the reading is to work on being more Christlike and trusting him fully
continually. I agree that it is essential and appreciated the book because it
provides an excellent reminder in a world of undisciplined; as Christians,
especially as ministry leaders, we cannot afford to be amongst the stagnant. "The
Spiritual Disciplines are those practices found in Scripture that promote spiritual
growth among believers in the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are the habits of
devotion and experiential Christianity that have been practiced by the people of
God since biblical times."[1]
d d d d d d d d d d The first Spiritual Discipline that I need to work on is Silence and
Solitude. I struggle to find time for silence and solitude, mainly because of my
crazy schedule. Still, I have started working on it by turning off my radio while I
am driving or taking a walk by myself to allow for thought, processing, and
hearing more of God's voice. "Solitude is the Spiritual Discipline of voluntarily and
temporarily withdrawing to privacy for spiritual purposes. The period of solitude
may last only a few minutes or for days. As with silence, solitude may be sought
in order to participate without interruption in other Spiritual Disciplines, or just to
be alone with God and think."[2]
d d d d d d d d d d The second Spiritual Discipline that I need to consider focusing on is
fasting. Although I have attempted fasting before for health purposes, a juice
cleanse, or pre-natal tests, I do not do well without food each time I have felt on
edge and sick. I have yet to try fasting from food for spiritual purposes, but I shall
consider it if God calls me to it. I understand the purpose of it; I just have
negative thoughts about it. I have done social media fasting, removing the social
media apps, and stay off for a month. I have also abstained from dating for the
majority of this last year as I wanted to focus on school and my ministry.
The third Spiritual Discipline that needs some concentration is journaling; I have
started and stopped journaling a few times over the last year. However, it is on
my to-do list. Once I have completed this degree, I finish on August 21st! A friend
of mine said that the benefit of journaling for her is that when she is in a low
point she can look back and look at the highlight reel of all the times that the
Lord has blessed her. I love this idea and look forward to having the time to
journal soon.
word count 465
[1] Donald S Whitney (2020). (p. 4). Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life,
Revised and Updated Edition. Retrieved from
https://app.wordsearchbible.lifeway.com
[2] Donald S Whitney (2020). (p. 224).
