After reading Whitney'sSpiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, I
understand his main argument to be that the purpose and goal of
discipline in the life of a believer in Jesus Christ is godliness. Whitney
refers defines godliness “as both closeness to Christ and conformity to
Christ, a conformity that’s both inward and outward, a growing conformity
to both the heart of Christ and the life of Christ.”[1] In his argument,
Whitney referenced 1 Timothy 4:7, which states “But stay away from
worthless stories that are typical of old women. Rather, discipline yourself
for the purpose of godliness.”[2] Whitney further argues that the ten
spiritual disciplines will help the believer to achieve spiritual maturity and
ultimately reach the goal of godliness while on the other hand, a lack of
applying the ten spiritual disciplines will negatively impact the spiritual
growth of the believer. I agree with the arguments that Whitney made
because these ten spiritual disciplines were practiced by Jesus Christ
Himself. It is God’s desire for us to be transformed and be made in the
image of Christ. The only way for believers to live holy, how Jesus lived,
and spiritually mature is to apply the ten spiritual disciplines to their lives
with help from the Holy Spirit. Another reason why I agree with Whitney
is because of my experiences in applying or not being consistent in
applying the spiritual disciplines to my life. I have found in my own life
that if I do not apply these spiritual disciplines to my life, my spiritual
growth has suffered and I am not close to godliness and living like Jesus.
The first spiritual discipline that I need to strengthen is evangelism. The
reason why I believe that I need to strengthen evangelism is that we are
commissioned by Jesus Himself to fulfill the Great Commission as shown in
Matthew 28:19-20. I believe that the Great Commission must be at the
top of the to-do list of a Christian. The Great Commission is not just for
pastors and church leaders, it is for all believers to fulfill. I would typically
go with our evangelism ministry to evangelize at nursing homes and
apartment complexes. However, since the pandemic hit, I was not able to
go out as much. Therefore, to strengthen evangelism, I will plan and
execute evangelism outings that will be independent of the evangelism
ministry and outings that my wife and I along with a few friends will
participate in.
The second spiritual discipline that I need to strengthen is fasting. The
reason why I believe that I need to strengthen fasting is that I do not
incorporate it unless our pastor calls for our congregation to fast. I did not
have a really good understanding of fasting. However, after reading the
chapter on fasting, I have a clearer picture of the purpose of fasting.
Whitney explains that fasting should be done with a spiritual purpose in
mind. According to Whitney, “before we fast, we must have a purpose, a
biblical, God-centered purpose.”[3] Therefore, my plan to execute fasting
into my life is to seek God’s guidance on the purpose of a fast and then
schedule a fast for once a month to start.
The final spiritual discipline that I need to strengthen is Silence and
Solitude. The reason why I believe that I need to strengthen silence and
solitude is that even though I do have a devotional time with God in the
morning, I am not consistent in carving out time in my schedule for
silence and solitude in any other part of the day. Sometimes my
schedule will not allow me to have the flexibility to incorporate silence and
solitude in my day. However, I have chosen to change this because
incorporating silence and solitude will allow me to draw closer to God and
seek godliness. My plan for strengthening the discipline of silence and
solitude in my life is to first plan a time and select a place each day for
silence and solitude other than the morning. Once I have selected a time
and place for silence and solitude, I will add it to the calendar on my
phone and Outlook calendar as I would any other meeting I would
schedule. The next step of my plan to incorporate silence and solitude
into my life is to prepare a daily schedule of what I will do during my time
of daily silence and solitude. This schedule will include moments of
reflection, prayer, and journaling. The final step of my plan to incorporate
silence and solitude is to find a permanent place for silence and solitude.
This place will most likely be our master bedroom where my wife and I
have set up an altar, a place where we go to God for everything.
[1]Donald S. Whitney,Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Revised
and Updated (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2014), 9.
[2]Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the New
American Standard Bible Version (Anaheim, CA: Foundations Publications,
2001).
[3]Whitney,Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, 217.
