LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Written Assignment 1 – Spiritual Formation and Discipleship
Submitted to Dr. Rodney Dempsey, in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the completion of the course,
DSMN 500-B01
Discipleship Ministries
by
Donna Ralston
May 26, 2019
Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................................2
Three Areas Related to Spiritual Growth....................................................................................2
Personal Growth Assessment........................................................................................................3
Bibliography...................................................................................................................................7
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Introduction
Spiritual Formation is a process of becoming more Christ-like. This is to be accomplished
in part through the learning and practice of spiritual disciplines such as meditating on scripture,
practicing silence and solitude, and listening to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. This will
enable an integrated and holistic deepening of one’s love for God and neighbor, expressed in
mission and service.1 Dave Earley states that “The goal of spiritual transformation is becoming
more like Jesus. If you are not changing and growing, you are not experiencing spiritual
formation. This is a process of change Paul refers to as a glorious transformation”.2 Spiritual
Formation combines both experience and theory. It invites those who have a desire for God, to
practice the spiritual disciplines so they will have a deeper understanding and experience of
God.
Three Areas Related to Spiritual Growth
The three areas related to spiritual growth are “Loving God (relating to God), loving one
another (nurturing relationships), and loving our neighbors”.3 All three are incredibly important
for spiritual growth. Loving God is, of course, first in importance. That is accomplished by
spending intentional time in His presence by reading His word and by being in constant
communication with Him through prayer. Believers can only experience revival and learn to love
God as He loves them by doing so. According to Wilson Teo, “The Bible provides the biblical
content and source for spiritual formation to take place in the lives of believers (Averbeck, 2010).
1 Dallas Willard, “Spiritual Disciplines, Spiritual Formation, and the Restoration of the
Soul.” Journal of psychology and theology, 26, no. 1 (1998): 101–109.
2 Dave Earley and Rod Dempsey, Spiritual Formation Is… Nashville: B&H Publishing
Group, 2018, 4.
3 Ibid, 101.
2
It reveals the nature of who God is and enables believers to become like Christ in their values,
behaviors, and lifestyles”.4
Loving one another is next in importance. This “pertains to loving our brothers and
sisters in the family of God”.5 We are to love our siblings in Christ and help each other to mature
in Christ so that, in turn, together we can bring others into the family of Christ. Jesus launches us
on a life-long journey of learning to love God the way He desires to be loved and learning to
love one another like Jesus loves us. Learning to agape God and one another is the primary goal
and the central process of our lives and our spiritual formation. This is the kind of love which
cultivates abundant, meaningful life, and true character transformation.
The last area is loving our neighbors which encompasses everyone else in the world. As
Rod Demsey wrote, “Our love for God and for one another should be a major apologetic to the
unbelieving world”.6 Unbelievers should be able to see Jesus in us and in everything we do.
Believers should become a walking, talking apologetic. When we walk in the Spirit we think and
act differently than other people in the various situations of life. By walking in the Spirit,
something incredible happens. What the Bible calls “fruits of the Spirit” begin to grow in our life
such as peace, joy, love, faithfulness, and goodness, among other things (Galatians 5:22 NASB).
Those who were so restless, anxious, and often unhappy, will get a healthier outlook on life.
Personal Growth Assessment
Taking the personal growth assessment included in this assignment was an eye-opener for
me. I started back to school at Liberty University in 2016 and have been attending non-stop ever
since. I finished my bachelor’s degree in Christian ministry in September of 2018 and started the
M.Div. the very next semester. Since I have a family and work full time, I have let some of my
4 Wilson Teo, "The Formational Journey of Emerging Ecclesial Leaders", Production
SF (2018): 86.
5 Earley and Dempsey, Spiritual Formation Is…, 103.
6 Ibid, 105.
3
spiritual disciplines fall by the wayside in the process. That probably seems impossible given my
areas of study, but it is true. According to the assessment, I am strongest in the “love for God”
area and weakest in the “love our neighbors” area. This makes sense since I am spending very
little time with people who are not Christians. Much of my time is spent either at work or
studying. As is probably true for most Christians, I could always stand to make improvements in
all three areas listed in the assessment.
The area of “Love for God” was my strongest area in the assessment but I definitely have
room for improvement. Memorizing God’s Word is something that I have not ever made a
concerted effort to do. I know a few verses by heart, but my plan is to eventually memorize the
whole Bible. I used to think that it was an impossible task until I met several people that have
done it. A friend of mine recommended the book Why You Really Can Memorize Scripture by Dr.
Daniel Morris. According to Dr. Morris, there are many reasons that God wants and commands
us to memorize Scripture such as “God offers promises and prosperity to those who have His
words in their mind and heart and meditate upon them”.7 One other item I need to change in this
area is that I do not have dated prayer request list for people and requests. I do pray for other
people, but I do not make and actual list. I see the importance and am going to incorporate it into
my daily habits.
The area of “Love for One Another” was a little lower on the scale of the assessment for
me. One thing that I scored low on was meeting weekly in a small group. I used to attend a small
group until I started back to school. I simply have not had the time to attend. I know the
importance of it but during this busy time in my life, I have had to make concessions. I will be
incorporating it back into my life in the near future because I can really see what a difference it
7 Daniel Morris, Why You Really Can Memorize Scripture Understand and Unlock Your
Minds Natural Ability to Memorize Long Passages, Life Sentence Publishing, 2012.
4
makes in my life now that I have not been in almost a year. I am more aware than ever of the
importance of being with my sisters in Christ on a regular basis. Along those same lines, the
other item that I scored lower on in this area is that I am not using my spiritual gift to build up
others in the body of Christ as I should. Again, this is due to the fact that I am spending most of
my time at work and studying. I am going to stop making excuses and make time to do these
things more often.
The last area of “Love for Our Neighbors” is the area that I scored the lowest in on the
assessment. This is very convicting for me. I have let so many things fall by the wayside since I
went back to school and this is one of the biggest. By neglecting this area, I am not fulfilling the
Great Commission and, in turn, not being a good Christian. I had not thought of myself in this
way until taking the personal growth assessment. This has really made me rethink my priorities. I
used to volunteer at church and at several local non-profit organizations that help the homeless. I
am going to make time for at least of these on a regular basis as soon as possible. Another item
on that list that I do not do, is to eat with people who do not know Christ. If I do, it is not
intentional. I used to help serve food at the men’s homeless shelter on a regular basis and we
would always sit and eat with them after everyone was served. It was a great opportunity to share
Jesus and the Gospel. I miss this greatly and as I said previously, I am going to be incorporating
these things back into my routine.
This personal growth assessment has truly made an impact on me. I am going to take
everything that I learned from it and make changes that will enable me to not only increase my
score in the future, but to help me be the kind of Christian that God means for me to be. As Larry
Warner states, “Spiritual formation is a communal activity, not an individual journey. Our
formational journey is never a completely solo endeavor. We need the encouragement, strength,
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love, and relationship of others as we walk the pathway of formation”.8 I can see now that I am
in great need of getting back to my roots and that I need to stop doing my Christian life alone.
Bibliography
Earley, Dave, and Rod Dempsey. Spiritual Formation Is… Nashville: B&H Publishing Group,
2018.
8 Larry Warner, "What Is Spiritual Formation and Why Is It Important", High Desert
Direction The Spiritual Formation Mininstry of Dr Richard Green The Christian Formation and
Direction Ministry Contact Site, Accessed May 26, 2019.
http://www.highdesertdirection.com/articles-more-infromation/spiritual-formation-important/.
6
Morris, Daniel. Why You Really Can Memorize Scripture Understand and Unlock Your Minds
Natural Ability to Memorize Long Passages. Life Sentence Publishing, 2012.
Teo, Wilson. "The Formational Journey of Emerging Ecclesial Leaders". Production
Staff (2018): 86.
Warner, Larry. "What Is Spiritual Formation and Why Is It Important." High Desert Direction
The Spiritual Formation Mininstry of Dr Richard Green The Christian Formation and
Direction Ministry Contact Site. Accessed May 26, 2019.
http://www.highdesertdirection.com/articles-more-infromation/spiritual-formation-
important/.
Willard, Dallas, “Spiritual Disciplines, Spiritual Formation, and the Restoration of the
Soul”, Journal of psychology and theology, 26, no. 1 (1998): 101–109.
7
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