After reading Spiritual Disciplines for Christian Life by Donald S. Whitney, it can be
discerned that Whitney felt it necessary to express to the believer for the purpose
of educating the unbeliever of those behaviors necessary to live a life rooted in
godliness through the pursuit of holiness (Whitney, 2). Whitney focused his
attention on twelve behaviors that all believers should discipline themselves to
practice daily to ensure that their Christian walk is not simply food for footer but
one that is rooted in godly living and practices. f Whitney gives the example in his
narrative concerning worship, that although people may be singing praises to God
or listening to a sermon, if the believer fails to focus on God in more than words
but in their mind and heart, then it is not worship (Whitney, 105). The believer
teach or discipline themselves that when in worship all attention should be on
God and his goodness, to ensure that worship is God-centered (Whitney, 106).
Whitney emphasizes the importance to have the proper relationship with God they
most discipline themselves to develop perseverance in their pursuit of godliness
the proper study of His word, an effective prayer life daily, God-centered worship,
a desire and the action of evangelism at all times not fearing the how but
focused on the when, serving God and his people with a heart of gladness and
humility with the earnest use of the spiritual gifts God gave each person which
should result in sacrificial giving of self, to be a good steward of your time to
ensure that every moment spent is for the purposes of building towards your
eternal life while being good stewards of your finances thereby rendering to God
what is his and faith that God will provide for all your needs, fasting to clear your
heart and mind of clutter so that you can come into accord with God while
understanding the purpose and timing for fasting so it f is godly, silence and
solitude to spend quiet time with God so that you are available for the presence
of the Holy Spirit and receive instruction from God with focus being solely on
him, learning to talk to directly to God by journaling about daily interactions for
reflection of the work of the spirit in your life or activities, and finally learning to
gain a deeper understanding of the work of God and his word, “The mind of the
prudent acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge” (Proverbs
18:15, NASB).
As a Christian I agree with the information that Whitney presents in his book
regarding the importance of believers disciplining themselves to be godly. Simply
proclaiming to be a Chrisitan is not enough the word of God tells the believer “Be
diligent to present yourself approved to God as a worker who does not need to
be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15, NASB). In
keeping with the disciplines outlined by Whitney it is obvious that despite my
desire to be godly I have lack in the disciplines of Silence and Solitude, Fasting
and Journaling. When I was taking the course at my local church called
MasterLife Disciples it taught the importance of these disciplines and I spent
twenty-four weeks training myself to practice these disciples on a regular basis.
But after the class ended I allowed my worldly activities to take presence of
ensuring to be consistent in completing them. I will be intentional about being
less sporadic about improving my discipline to Journaling, silence and solitude,
and fasting by ensuring I plan time in my calendar to be more consistent.
References
Whitney, Donald S., Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Colorado Springs, CO,
NavPress, 2014.
