The Development of Spiritual Disciplines

The Development of Spiritual Disciplines Prayer:Dear God,

Please help us to have more self-control. Train us Lord, like an athlete to be strong and determined. Feed us with your truth in the scriptures to make us healthy. May we exercise muscles of forgiveness, patience and peacemaking. Lord, increase our stamina to give out to those in need. And may we be freed from past hurts and confusions so that we can run free.

Come fill our life with your resurrection hope!

Amen.

1 Timothy 4:7 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.

Introduction

Mark Price was an all-star guard for many years with Cleveland’s pro-basketball team, the Cavaliers. His basketball skills were supreme, but he stood a little under six feet and had an average frame. Yet he played well among giants.

Once, in front of a group of men and boys at church, he was asked how someone his size had become so exceptional in basketball.

Mark reflected on the many Friday nights he was alone in the gym shooting foul shots and long-range shots while everyone else was out on a date or hanging out with friends.

He remembered the hard work with his father, shooting and correcting, shooting and correcting, dribbling and passing—then doing it all over again. In high school he was all-state; at Georgia Tech he was all-conference. Then he was signed by the pros.

Physical strength and excellence require conditioning and training, dedication and hard work. Spiritual strength and maturity require the same. But not many people will discipline their spirits. Too often we become satisfied with mediocrity or with watching others live for Christ.

Physical training has some limited value, but development and exercise of the spirit benefit our lives now and for eternity. This chapter of 1 Timothy is about the value of disciplining ourselves for life.

❖ Spiritual Disciplines are the practices/actions that help Christians keep spiritual channels open.

❖ Spiritual Disciplines help to get the believer’s heart turned to God. ❖ Spiritual Disciplines don’t guarantee personal holiness.

❖ Spiritual Disciplines can increase one’s heart, desire, and sensitivity to God.

❖ Spiritual Disciplines can develop within an individual a capacity to hear from God.

❖ Spiritual Disciplines cooperate with the Holy Spirit to bring intimacy with God. ❖ Spiritual Disciplines allow us to place ourselves before God so He can transform us.

❖ Any practice/action that turns you to God can be categorized as a Spiritual Discipline.

1 Timothy 4:7 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.

1. The mandate for discipline. Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales

Not everything promoted as spiritual is good for our development.

We must be aware of all the false and distracting “knowledge” that presents itself as spiritual and then stay far from it and warn others of its ungodly results. To be able to discern the false from the true, a believer must be solidly grounded in the truth of God.

Have nothing to do with:to avoid-to stay clear from; keep out the way of someone or something.

godless: profane-characterized by violating the sacred character of someone or something (like a place, object or institution).

myths- a piece of fiction that narrates a chain of related events; especially understood as ahistorical.

Myths and tales have been spread by word of mouth, by pagan priests, by printed page and telephone, and now by the Internet. There is no standard of truth and no screening of error on the Internet, and even Christian resources that contain blatant error are picked up and repeated literally around the world.

Old wives tales: old womanly- characteristic of an old woman(or old women in general).

Philosophers commonly demeaned the tales of old women as fit only for children, and they mocked irrational views as those suited only to old women. This perspective also presupposes the illiteracy of most older women in antiquity (even those who had learned to read in youth would usually have had little subsequent practice at it).

Are you in shape both physically and spiritually?

1. The mandate for discipline.

2. The meaning of discipline (gymanze/train - Greek word). to train(discipline)-to develop a person’s behavior by instruction and practice.

“train.” It means to exercise ourselves. Doing this takes discipline and purposeful decision. Nobody ever wakes up “trained” or stumbles into exercise. The person who benefits most from exercise does it routinely and with determination. The athlete stretches and runs because these exercises lead him toward the greater goal of fitness. In the same way, prayer, fasting, Bible study, and other disciplines are not ends in themselves but means to a fuller relationship with God. We pursue righteousness, peace, and love because we pursue God.

Paul speaks of moral, intellectual and spiritual discipline rather than physical exercise, although he is not opposed to the latter.

They rather deal with his development of character and with discipline. Nor does Paul focus only on what Timothy was involved in at the time. He looks ahead on the basis of the promise that godliness holds “for both the present life and the life to come.”

In our society, much emphasis is placed on physical fitness, but spiritual health(godliness) is even more important. Our physical health is susceptible to disease and injury, but faith can sustain us through any tragedy.

1. The mandate for discipline.

2. The meaning of discipline.

3. The motivation behind the discipline. yourself

What is still sometimes neglected in both church and school is the development of character. Prayer, Bible reading, meeting attendance, witnessing, worship, obedience to specific biblical texts, moments of spiritual insight, and even revival are all tremendously important. Isolated acts and events, however, do not necessarily develop character. Character is developed by bringing these spiritual disciplines to bear together on our lives, on our attitudes and decisions, and on our relationships and actions.

To train ourselves to be godly, we must develop our faith by using our God-given abilities in the service of the church.

1. The mandate for discipline.

2. The meaning of discipline.

3. The motivation behind the discipline.

4. The method of discipline. to be godly/ piety: the devout practice for, and appropriate beliefs about, God.

We can safeguard ourselves and those we lead or influence by training ourselves to be godly

Godliness is not passive but active. As physical training develops the body and as aerobic exercises improve the function of the heart, so a godly walk has its beneficial effect on one’s character. Attempts to minimize the importance of physical training are heard less these days than before research showed the effect of exercise and good diet on one’s life span.

Are you developing your spiritual muscles?

Conclusion

In conclusion,

1. The mandate for discipline.

2. The meaning of discipline.

3. The motivation behind the discipline.

4. The method of discipline.

ONCE I got suspended from school in the eighth grade for fighting. Some boy messed with my fried chicken for lunch, and this boy took a piece of chicken out of my plate.

They had to call my father from his job. Now, my father worked by the hour, which meant he had to punch out to come see why his son, the preacher’s kid, had gotten kicked out of school. He went to the school and came to the principal’s office, where I sat, waiting. I’ll never forget my father’s face as he listened to the story of how I came to get in trouble. I’ll also never forget my father’s response. He told the principal , “sir, you will never, ever, ever have to worry about my son ever being suspended from school ever again.”

As we walked out he said, “Do you know how much this visit cost me? I am going to take payment out on you.” Even though I was disciplined, he still fed me. Even though I was disciplined, he still clothed me. Even though I was disciplined, there was still a roof over my head. Even though I did something to irritate him, he was my daddy, and he was tenaciously committed to me.