Topic: After reading Whitney's Spiritual Disciplines for the
Christian Life, what do you understand his main argument to be?
Do you agree with him or disagree? Why or why not? What are
three spiritual disciplines you need to strengthen and how do you
plan to implement them?
!!!!!!!!!!!!Whitney!states from the beginning of his book that spiritual
disciples are necessary for the purpose of Godliness. Every Christian
should be striving to be more like Christ and the only way to do that is to
develop spiritual disciplines centered around scripture that foster spiritual
growth.“Engage in the Spiritual Disciplines given by God in Scripture so
that you are continually shown your need for Christ and the infinite supply
of grace and mercy to be found by faith in Jesus Christ.”[1]His point is
Christians need God’s grace and mercy to be saved but they also need His
precepts for discipline in their daily lives to grow in their efforts to be
more Christ-like. Just like an athlete; the discipline of practice, eating
right, and studying all aspects of their sport makes them the best they
can be. Likewise, meditating on God’s word, prayer, journaling, and other
disciplines help Christians become the best they can be.
I agree wholeheartedly with Whitney’s assessment as I have
experienced what he teaches in his book on a personal level during a
lifetime of sports and now with my walk with God. Discipline to do the
right things with the proper direction makes all the difference in the world
when you’re trying to improve in anything. Three areas of spiritual
discipline that I need to work on are silence and solitude, journaling, and
perseverance in the disciplines. With a demanding job, family life, school
life, and ministry work the opportunities to have one on one time with God
in quiet are very limited. “You may need an extended time of silence and
solitude to settle your doubts or reestablish your spiritual moorings.”[2]I
need to reorganize my schedule to devote time for silence and solitude. I
feel that I miss God’s word for my life sometimes because I don’t slow
down to listen to what He is saying, at times He gets drowned out with the
noise of life.
Journaling is something I am horrible at and I know I am missing
out on seeing everything God is doing in my life because I have not
committed to writing down all His blessing for me. “As a Christian, your
journal is a place to document the works and ways of God in your
life.”[3]This hurts my heart and journaling is something that I need to
discipline myself to do every day at the end of my day so that I don’t
forget all the wonderful things God is doing in my life. Perseverance in the
disciplines is the root of why I need work in the other two areas. At times
with all the hustle and bustle of life, it gets harder to do some things and
when that happens I begin to let my guard down and relax my disciplines
or add things that are really “barnacles” in my daily schedule. “Spiritual
Disciplines are actually one of the ways God lightens your load and gives
you smoother sailing.”[4]I have to remember to persevere in the things of
God so I don’t get bogged down with the things of this world.
Bibliography
Whitney, Donald S.Spiritual Disciplines For The Christian Life.Colorado
Springs, CO: NavPress Publishing, 2020.
[1]Donald S. Whitney.Spiritual Disciplines For The Christian Life.Colorado
Springs, CO: NavPress Publishing, 2020, 19.
[2]Whitney.Spiritual Discipline, 244.
[3]Ibid., 249.
[4]Ibid., 289.
