LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
Journal 1 Assignment:
Explain the ways you see pride manifested in your life. After consulting your course textbooks
and watching the course videos, how do you think you need to respond to these manifestations of
pride?
Submitted to Dr. Benjamin Forrest,
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
DSMN 520-BO1-LOU-201840 Fall 2018
Spiritual Formation
by
Alfredo Estrada
September 4, 2018
Introduction
In the Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Donald S. Whitney states, “Two of the
deadliest of our sins, sloth and pride, loathe serving.”1 If serving Christ faithfully without
compromise is the ultimate objective for a Christian, then pride can be a sure road block towards
that service. Following the letter of the instructions for this journal, this journal will attempt to
answer a question I have never contemplated. In what ways does pride manifest in my life?
Perhaps, this is a form of pride as well. The failure to analyze and evaluate the pride that is
within me. Being entirely candid with myself I have never asked God specifically to take pride
away from me. In my eyes, I have never considered myself a prideful person but for purpose of
this journal assignment and my personal growth, I will take this question to task.
Pride
The apostle James wrote, “But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, God opposes the proud,
but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6).2 As a Christian, who in their right mind wants to be
opposed by God? But that’s exactly what happens when pride has infected your life. The
antonym of humility is pride. James reminds us that a byproduct of humility is rewarded by God
with grace. According to Andrew Murray, “Humility is the path to death, because in death it
gives the highest proof of its perfection.”3 If humility is the path to death, then a sepulture for
pride should be a landmark on that path.
1 Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2014), 143.
2 Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, English Standard
Version (ESV) Text Edition: 2016. Copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News
Publishers
3 Andrew Murray, Humility and Absolute Surrender (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers Marketing, LLC,
2005), 45.
2
Murray, Andrew. Humility and Absolute Surrender. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers Marketing,
LLC, 2005.
Footnote:
Andrew Murray, Humility and Absolute Surrender (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers Marketing, LLC, 2005),
1-160.
Explain the ways you see pride manifested in your life. After consulting your course textbooks
and watching the course videos, how do you think you need to respond to these manifestations of
pride?
Bibliography:
Whitney, Donald S. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. Colorado Springs: NavPress,
2014.
Footnote:
Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2014), 1-341.
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Introduction
What a person thinks or assumes about God varies from person to person. You need only
to take a stroll along your community Main street and survey people walking about, with
questions like; Who do you think God is? And What do you think God is like? To realize the
latter is true. Without a shadow of a doubt, you will quickly find that a multitude of responses
will vary. From those with opinions who stem from academia and the study of God, to those
who formulate opinions from a personal background, culture, and overall existential and
empirically inadequate thought process.
The central thesis that the author, A. W. Tozer, propagates, is to answer the question,
“What is God like?”. 4 To answer this question, Tozer weaves his response in part, through the
lens of the attributes of God. According to A. W. Tozer, “An Attribute of God, is whatever God
has in any way revealed as being true of Himself.”5 Furthermore, Tozer, elaborates that these
4 A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy (New York: HaperOne, 1961), 6.
5 Ibid. 12.
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revelations can be partly gleaned through the, “Holy Trinity, self-existence, self-sufficiency,
eternity, infinitude, immutability, omniscience, wisdom, divine transcendence, omnipresence,
faithfulness, goodness, justice, mercy, love, holiness, sovereignty, and open secret of God.”6 Of
course, each of these attributes linked to God is beyond a human comprehension.
Why this First Textbook was Chosen as the Reading for a Course on Spiritual Formation
One reason this book was chosen first for spiritual formation, could be because this book
attempts to wipe away erroneous, imaginary, misinterpretations and conceptions of God, and
takes you back to square one in learning how to begin to not have a misinterpretation of who
God. Dr. Tozer states, “Our real idea of God may lie buried under the rubbish of conventional
religious notions and may require an intelligent and vigorous search before it is finally unearthed
and exposed for what it is.”7 It is these conventional religious notions that have been the source
and force behind the incomplete and sometimes incorrect feeding of the knowledge of God. This
book was also most likely chosen to show students who want to grow spiritually, that God is
much more than what religious folks have boxed him in to be.
Another reason this book was chosen first for spiritual formation could be that Dr. Ben
Forrest, has experienced in his own flesh and is familiar with what happens to Christians who did
not develop a solid spiritual formation. In his video posted in Blackboard entitled, Confessions of
a Spiritual Formation, he speaks of digging a spiritual well deep enough to enable a Christian to
pull living water from it when dry seasons arrive. He spoke of Ruth and how she was, “faithful in
pain, faithful in drudgery, faithful in waiting, and faithful in redemption.”8 It is self-evident from
6 Ibid. Contents.
7 Ibid. 2.
8 Ben Forrest, “Presentation: Confessions of a Spiritual Formation Professor,” Liberty University
Blackboard, accessed August 29, 2018, https://learn.liberty.edu/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?
course_id=_444151_1&content_id=_24385538_1.
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the tone of his voice that he speaks to the student from the vantage point of experience,
explaining that, “spiritual formation is easier to be studied than to convert into a life of
practice.”9
Throughout this gem of a book, Tozer enlightens and reminds the reader, that God is
supreme over every concept or thought imaginable, and it is things of this world such as,
“secularism, materialism, and the intrusive presence of things have put out the light in our souls
and turned us into a generation of zombies.”10 It may be true that only Dr. Forrest knows the real
reason why he chose this book for his students, but it would be of wise assumption to infer that
he does not want his students to be counted into the generation of zombies Tozer wrote about.
Although many generations have come and gone since Tozer’s death, his message speaks to the
current generation loud and clear. Similarly, another reason this book might have been chosen for
the students of this course is to channel the student’s mind on the attributes of God, and off the
occupations of this world.
Tozer writes, “We poor human creatures are constantly being frustrated by limitations
imposed upon us from without and within.”11 These limitations can quickly hinder a Christian’s
spiritual formation. According to Tozer, “it remains for us to see God’s love in the light of His
infinitude. His love is measureless. . . .it has no bounds because it is not a thing but a facet of the
essential nature of God.”12 Dr. Forrest, seemingly without a shadow of a doubt, wants to guide
the student to a deeper understanding of the true nature of God.
Conclusion
9 Ibid.
10 Tozer, 18.
11 Ibid. 46.
12 Ibid. 47.
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Dr. Forrest wants to challenge his students through this book, that via the conduit of
meaningful exploration and heart felt meditation of the attributes of God, a Christian’s life can
begin to encounter long-lasting spiritual formation. In many ways, it is as if Dr. Forrest wants his
students to either embrace or reembrace the majestic beauty of God’s attributes, through Tozer’s
hand. More importantly, Dr. Forrest wants to set the tone for the rest of the course so that the
student can experience a real walk with God that will last a lifetime. The apostle Peter writes,
“To this, you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you
should follow his steps” (1 Pet. 2:21).13 Without a fully developed spiritual formation, one can
never consistently know what God is like nor follow in His footsteps.
13 Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the New International Version Online
Bible.
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