Personal Spiritual Disciplines
I hope that you will join us on Sunday evening, March 7th for the kick-off Lakewood men’s and women’s ministries. We will take the rest of 2021 to examine personal spiritual disciplines and how to develop them in our own lives. What are personal spiritual disciplines? Faithful and meaningful Bible study. A consistent and rich prayer life. Fasting. Solitude. Worship. Evangelism. Serving. There are many other examples in God’s word.
If the Christian life may be compared to a physical body, many Christians are in poor health, with poor diets, and become discouraged at the process of “getting into shape.” Getting into shape is hard work. It takes time. It takes dedication. You will be sore on occasion. To become convinced to continue moving in the right direction, we often turn to personal trainers and even nutritionists. I want you to think about our concentration on personal spiritual discipline in the same manner. We must train ourselves for God’s purposes. Read this verse slowly, and purposefully, and several times over:
“Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4:7-8
In context, the idea of “silly myths” might even be accurately interpreted as fake news and social media ramblings. These are things which people spend a lot of time on but have very little if any benefit. Wouldn’t you rather invest your time in things that will have eternal value, rather than what someone you’ve never met posted on Facebook? (Hint: if you begin to memorize these verses, you will have a head start on our men’s and women’s ministries “workouts.”)
Plan to come join us as we celebrate God’s word together, challenge one another, hold each other accountable, encourage and love one another, and grow closer as a body of believers. I look forward to seeing you there.
Blessings,
Pastor Bruce