What are “spiritual disciplines”?
Have you ever tried to fix your posture? Mine is terrible. I slouch horribly as my default sitting position. When I start getting headaches and backaches, it reminds me that my body wasn’t designed to sit like that! So I sit up straighter like we’re supposed to, and it clearly feels better. I can tell that my body was designed for that position. And yet, it’s hard to maintain. My muscles aren’t used to sitting that way, even if it’s clearly better for my body. And so over time, I go back to my default slouch without even realizing it. Until some twinge of pain reminds me that I wasn’t designed to sit like that…
Our spiritual life is like that, isn’t it? We were designed to live according to God’s Word. It’s not easy, because our spiritual “muscles” aren’t used to it, but we know that it’s the best way to live. And yet we default back to what we’re used to and what’s comfortable. We need those reminders, sometimes the painful kind, that we’re trying to make life work apart from how it was designed to work.
What if there was a way to remind ourselves of God’s design for our lives through the day maybe before we get to the pain stage? A way to help gradually train ourselves for better spiritual “posture” and strengthen those muscles?
Spiritual disciplines are a great reminder system. How so? What are they, exactly? Let’s start with what they are not…
What are they NOT?
Quick fixes
Magic pills
One time solutions to spiritual problems
Outdated practices that have no reasonable application in our modern culture
Legalistic boxes to check to prove our worthiness to God
What are they?
Simple, ancient practices that can be applied in our modern culture
Rhythms and practices that Jesus modeled
Over time, they help us to draw close to God and mature in Christ
Practices that help us to remember, throughout our day, of what walking with Jesus looks like.
The traditional, more widely accepted term is “spiritual disciples”, however I like the term “spiritual practices” much better. (However when you Google “spiritual practices”, you will come up with many non-Biblical, non-Christian practices. Not what I’m trying to communicate!)
“Disciplines” feels very stodgy, regimented, and unappealing. It also feels like something that should be mastered immediately and done a certain way. “Practices” sounds like something we… practice. We experiment. We try to find the best way to incorporate them into our lives. They are disciplines in the sense that they provide us with training, but practices in the sense that they don’t have to be done perfectly.
Specifically, we’re talking about:
Bible reading
Bible study
Bible verse memorization
Bible verse meditation
prayer
solitude
silence
service
gratitude
fasting
reflection
This list isn’t exhaustive, but it’s a great start! These practices all started with Jesus, so if He needed them in His life, then we certainly do. For us, they serve the purpose of giving us a little nudge throughout the the day to “fix our eyes on Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2). They remind us of His love for us and our purpose here on earth. They give us space to process how we’re living our lives and where we’re struggling. They turn our focus to others and how we can love and serve them. They can also reinforce the truth of God in our lives and rewrite the lies that we’ve believed.
Just like any other habit or routine, they work best when practiced consistently. When I teach guitar lessons, I always tell my students that I would much rather they practice 15 minutes a day consistently as opposed to cramming for 2 hours right before their lesson. Spiritual practices are the same way. It’s much more helpful to pick one and practice it in small chunks on a daily basis, rather than do nothing all week and then spend hours and hours on Sunday or some other day trying to “make up” for the time lost. It doesn’t work well that way.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be looking at the different spiritual practices and ways that we can creatively apply them to our normal, everyday lives.
For now, is there one on that list that you’re curious about? Some that you practice already? Which one have you tried but never could make it work in your real life? I would love to hear!