I am teaching a class on the spiritual disciplines right now (fasting, frugality, fellowship, solitude, etc.). I really love teaching the spiritual disciplines however, I do sometimes wonder if my students feel the same way!
I love the disciplines because they give people tangible ways to get in touch with the presence of God in their daily lives.
I don’t remember learning the disciplines in the church I grew up in. I just remember being told to pray and read my bible. Don’t get me wrong, I think those are essential, but the disciplines provide me with the tools I need to accomplish that. They help me become more intentional about my spiritual growth.
I think the apostle Peter probably said it best when he encouraged believers to “grow in grace” (2 Pet 3:18). There is absolutely nothing we can do to “earn” God’s grace, but there are things we need to do to “grow” in that grace.
Dallas Willard explains that to “grow in grace” means to “utilize more and more grace to live by, until everything we do is assisted by grace.” In fact he says that, “the greatest saints are not those who need less grace, but those who consume the most grace”
I think the ability to accept God's unconditional grace and ferocious love is the fuel we need to obey Him in return. But, accepting God's kindness and free love is something the enemy does not want us to do. He will throw distractions, negative thoughts and attitudes such as envy and pride, loneliness, depression, and anything he can think of too block us from receiving God’s grace and love.
The spiritual disciplines, then, become ways to attack the “love blockers” in our lives rather than ways to rack up spiritual “points” or earn God’s favor. They are vehicles that will help transport us into God’s presence, which is where we are transformed.
It is crucial to understand that it is not the spiritual disciplines that transform us, rather they help keep our hearts soft and pliable so that the potter can reshape and reform us into the creation he intends for us to be.
The end is God. The one thing is God. And it is only in the presence of God that we can truly be transformed.
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