Walking With Jesus (Growth)Sample

The training

1 Timothy 4:8, 1 John 3:4, James 4:17

People usually combine two kinds of exercise to lose weight and maintain fitness. The first one is passive exercise, which is to refrain from eating a certain food. The second one is active exercise, where you have to exercise to burn excess calories and fat. Doing just one of these exercises won't make the process as effective as one might hope.

That is what happens in spiritual disciplines. Spiritual discipline is part of our worship of God. Some disciplines are active (or the discipline of involvement, which refers to something we do), but the other is passive or abstinence discipline in which we refrain from certain things. This discipline also relates to the type of sin we face. There is the sin of transgression, where we actively disobey God's commandments (1 John 3:4), and the sin of neglect, where we passively neglect the good deeds we should be doing (James 4:17).

This spiritual discipline is very beneficial for our spiritual fitness. We will be stronger when we are spiritually healthy. The focus of our lives becomes right because we want to please God's heart. This spiritual discipline is so important that when we struggle with the sin of neglect, we can face it with the discipline of engagement. On the other hand, when we struggle with sinful deeds, we will be helped through the discipline of abstinence. For example, if we are down, practicing celebrating our life and being grateful for it will make our life more beautiful. When we are struggling with greed, we will be helped with the practice of giving. If we like to gossip, keeping our mouths shut will help us. If we like talking with exaggerations, practicing honest speaking will help us.

Spiritual discipline is a means to achieve our goal, which is spiritual fitness. This spiritual fitness is useful for this life and in the life to come.

Reflection:

1. How is your spiritual condition? Is it fit or not? Why not and why yes?

2. How do you practice your spiritual fitness?

Practice: Don't try to fight the darkness without turning on the light. Turn on your light and use that light against the darkness.