After readingSpiritual Disciplines for Christian Lifeby 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. 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 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 topresent yourself approved to God as a
worker who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handlingthe 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.
