In the Christian life we often think of disciplines as drudgery. As a task we would prefer not to do. The key to growing as a Christian and being Godly is living a life of discipline. Scripture says that if we want to be Godly, “Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness” (1 Timothy 4:7).
Key Idea is Purpose!
Whatever the Discipline, the most important feature is its purpose. Just as there is little value in practicing the scales on a guitar or piano apart from the purpose of playing music, there is little value in practicing Spiritual Disciplines apart from the purpose behind it.
“The Spiritual Disciplines are those personal and corporate disciplines that promote spiritual growth. They are the habits of devotion and experiential Christianity that have been practiced by the people of God since biblical times.” Donald Whitney, Author of Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life
Application is another key idea. Application is apply what you hear. For a Christian it is taking God’s word and applying it.
James 1:22 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
Discipline Verses
“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another” (Proverbs 27: 17).
Jesus challenges us to learn and follow: Matthew 11: 29: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.”
Offer of discipleship: “Then he said to them all: ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me’” (Luke 9: 23).
Learning and following involve discipline, for those who only learn accidentally and follow incidentally are not true disciples.
Discipline is at the heart of discipleship: See Galatians 5: 22-23, which says that spiritual self-discipline (i.e., “self-control”) is a mark of being spiritually disciplined.
Discipline without direction is drudgery. But the Spiritual Disciplines are never drudgery as long as we practice them with the goal of Godliness in mind. If your picture of a disciplined Christian is one of a grim, tight-lipped, joyless half-robot, then you’ve missed the point. Jesus was the most disciplined Man who ever lived and yet the most joyful and passionately alive. He is our example of discipline.–Donald Whitney
Areas of Discipline we can apply!
1. Bible Intake: No Spiritual Discipline is more meaningful than the intake of God’s Word.
It is not just hearing God’s word it is obeying it that is so important,“Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it” (Luke 11: 28).
We need to hear from God’s word, “Romans 10: 17: “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”
Thessalonians 2:13 “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.”
2. Reading God’s Word
USA Today reported a poll just three months before this writing that showed only 11 percent of Americans read the Bible every day. More than half read it less than once a month or never at all.
3. Meditating on God’s Word
Take at least one thing you read and think deeply on it for a few moments. Your insight into Scripture will deepen and you will better understand how it applies to your life. And the more you apply the truth of Scripture, the more you will become like Jesus.
Check out the different Reading plans that are available here: http://about.esvbible.org/resources/reading/
4. Study God’s word
D. L. Moody put it, “A man can no more take in a supply of grace for the future than he can eat enough for the next six months, or take sufficient air into his lungs at one time to sustain life for a week. We must draw upon God’s boundless store of grace from day to day as we need it.”
“We should all have the passion for reading God’s Word of the man in this story. Evangelist Robert L. Sumner, in his book The Wonder of the Word of God, tells of a man in Kansas City who was severely injured in an explosion. His face was badly disfigured, and he lost his eyesight as well as both hands. He had just become a Christian when the accident happened, and one of his greatest disappointments was that he could no longer read the Bible. Then he heard about a lady in England who read braille with her lips. Hoping to do the same, he sent for some books of the Bible in braille. But he discovered that the nerve endings in his lips had been too badly damaged to distinguish the characters. One day, as he brought one of the braille pages to his lips, his tongue happened to touch a few of the raised characters and he could feel them. Like a flash he thought, “I can read the Bible using my tongue.” At the time Robert Sumner wrote his book, the man had read through the entire Bible four times. 6 If he can do that, can you discipline yourself to read the Bible?” Donald Whitney in his book Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 35).
5. Prayer
Jesus Expects Us to Pray Don’t think of prayer as an impersonal requirement. Realize that it is a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ, with all authority and with all love, who expects us to pray. His words show that He Himself expects us to pray: Matthew 6: 5, “And when you pray. . . .” Matthew 6: 6, “But when you pray. . . .” Matthew 6: 7, “And when you pray. . . .” Matthew 6: 9, “This, then, is how you should pray: . . .” Luke 11: 9, “So I say to you: Ask . . . ; seek . . . ; knock.”
Discipline is a Joy not drudgery and we should take the time to get in God’s Word and allow it to be our bread and butter as we seek to live Godly lives! “Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness” (1 Timothy 4:7).
Live Free in Christ 