The only road to Christian maturity and godliness (Christ likeness and holiness) passes through the practice of Spiritual
Disciplines. These personal and corporate disciplines promote spiritual growth and have been practiced by God’s
people since biblical times. Jesus modelled them for us and expects us to pursue them. In doing so, we will taste
the joy of a Spiritually Disciplined lifestyle.
What is the purpose of Spiritual Disciplines?
What are the Spiritual Disciplines?
The Fruit of Spiritual Disciplines
Bible Intake … for the purpose of Godliness
No Spiritual Discipline is
more important than the intake of God’s Word. Nothing can substitute for it. There simply is no healthy
Christian life apart from a diet of the milk and meat of Scripture. Bible intake is not only the most important Spiritual
Discipline, it is also the most broad. It actually consists of several sub-disciplines. It’s much like a
university comprised of many college, each specialising in a different discipline, yet all united under the general name of
the university:
Part 1 - Hearing, reading and studying God’s Word
Part 2 - Memorising, meditating on & applying God’s Word
Prayer … for the purpose of Godliness
Prayer is a vital Spiritual Discipline, second only to the intake of God’s Word. To be like Jesus, we must
pray. Knowing that without prayer we will lack Godliness, God expects us to pray. What a blessing it is to know
that He hears every prayer of His children.
Worship … for the purpose of Godliness
Worship – focusing on the responding to God – is the duty and privilege of all people. Worship often
includes words and actions but goes beyond them to the focus of our hearts and minds. God expects us to worship Him,
our creator, in Spirit and according to the truth of Scripture. We cannot become Godly without worshipping Him, but
it is possible to Worship Him in vain. As we learn the Spiritual Discipline of worship, we will become more like Jesus
and understand and appreciate how worthy He is.
Evangelism … for the purpose of Godliness
Evangelism is a natural overflow of the Christian life, but it is also a Discipline. Although all Christians
are not expected to use the same methods of evangelism, all Christians are
expected to evangelise. Godliness requires that we discipline ourselves in the practice of evangelism. The
reason many of us don’t witness in effective ways is our lack of discipline.
Serving … for the purpose of Godliness
To serve the Lord with gladness is every Christian’s commission. In God’s Kingdom, no one is spiritually
unemployed or retired. Everyone is gifted to serve, with the goal of being more like Jesus. If we don’t
discipline ourselves to serve for the sake of Christ and His Kingdom, we’ll only serve occasionally or when it’s
convenient or self-serving. The result will be a quantity and quality of service that we’ll regret when the Day
of Accountability for our service comes.
Stewardship … for the purpose of Godliness
The clock and the pound greatly influence our lives, so we must consider their role in Godly living. God calls
us to be disciplined in the use of our time and our money. Godliness is the result of a disciplined spiritual life,
but the Discipline of time and the Discipline of money are at the heart of a disciplined spiritual life that leads to Christ
likeness.
Fasting, Silence & Solitude … for the purpose of Godliness
Many of us do not know much about the Discipline of fasting, so we tend to misunderstand and fear it. It’s
also hard for us to so radically go against the mainstream of culture by fasting. Yet purposeful fasting provides strong
benefits in the disciplined pursuit of a Christ like life. It is a discipline that Jesus both taught and practiced.
Likewise, the Disciplines of silence and solitude, which Jesus diligently practiced, are foreign to many who have learned
to be comfortable only with noise and crowds. Yet these Disciplines contribute much to our spiritual growth and development.
Journaling & Learning … for the purpose of Godliness
Journaling, although not commanded in Scripture, is certainly modelled there. God has blessed the use of journals
since biblical times. The Spiritual Discipline of journaling has a fascinating appeal to many people. It not only
promotes spiritual growth but is a valuable aid to many other aspects of the spiritual life. Although there are no rules
for keeping a journal and journaling can be fruitful at any level of involvement, journaling requires persistence through
the dry times. Its value can be experience only through doing it.
Godly learning is an important Spiritual Discipline because biblically balanced Christians have full heads as well
as full hearts. As Proverbs 9:9 tells us, a characteristic of wise people is their desire for godly learning.
We must not be content to have zeal without knowledge. Jesus Himself told us to ‘love the Lord your God . . .
with all your mind’ (Mark 12:29-30). We glorify God when we use our minds as well as our hearts to learn of Him,
His ways, His word and His world.
