Whitney, Donald S. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. Colorado Springs, CO:
NavPress, 2014.
c c c c c c c I believe that Donald Whitney's main argument is twofold. His first argument
is for the importance and viability of the Spiritual Disciplines in modern Christian
life. His second argument is that the main goal of the Spiritual Disciplines is
godliness. As for the importance of the Spiritual Disciplines, he argues for the
disciplines meeting a real need brought by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
(Whitney, 2) He claims that the Holy Spirit creates in us a desire for godliness and
that the disciplines are God's means of meeting those needs. This is as much a
need now as it was in the past because the same Spirit dwells in believers of all
times. His second argument is that the main goal of these disciplines are to bring
about the godliness that is so desired by believers. This is evident in the fact that
it is the purpose of every chapter in his book. (Whitney, Table of Contents)
Whitney states "I will maintain that the only road to Christian maturity and
godliness (a biblical term synonymous with Christlikeness and holiness) passes
through the practices of the Spiritual Disciplines." (Whitney, 4)
c c c c c c I absolutely agree with Whitney. He is spot on with his defense of the
disciplines in the life of every believer. He also walks the fine line of not over or
understating the subjects' importance to believers. He delivers a biblical and
sound defense for his assertions, and no one can ask for more than that. I also
agree with the author because I have lived his assertion. There was a point in my
teens that I knew that there was more to life in Christ than three services a week
and struggling through the KJV version of the Bible. I was desiring to be more like
Christ, but no one had any answers besides pray and read. While these are
disciplines, no one knew how to teach me how. Eventually I went to college and
godly professors taught me how to pursue the Spiritual Disciplines and meet that
need in my life.
c c c c c The first discipline that I need to strengthen is Evangelism. While I do more
of it then I used to, I need to make it more of an active part of my life. I usually
engage in evangelism passively. If someone brought it up, I would seize the
opportunity. I need to be more invested in service evangelism in my neighborhood.
I do it haphazardly and I need to be more intentional. The second discipline I need
to strengthen is the stewardship of my time. I have it and yet I am not sure where
it all goes. I am usually rushing because I do not tell people “No" enough. The
time I have been given is a gift from God and I need to use it more faithfully. I am
going to practice telling people no and focus my time on what I can actually
accomplish. The third discipline that I used to be faithful in but have gotten away
from is silence and solitude. I am going to set my alarm earlier in a valid attempt
to wake up before my children. They are up before me usually and it is hard to get
away from them even for a few minutes in the day. I will simply have to wake up
earlier.
