For publication on The Depth of Perception

By Kevin Freeman

Spiritual discipline is a term that gets thrown around quite a bit by religious communities and spiritually minded people. It typically refers to the Christian practices of regular prayer, fasting, and various worship practices and meditations such as singing and contemplation of scripture. But what are the purposes of spiritual disciplines? Are they simply inconveniences that require us to sacrifice our time and effort, or do they help to improve us in some way?

Looking through the bible,1 Timothy 4:7 says to “Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.” The book of 1 Timothy speaks volumes about the need for spiritual discipline in the Christian life. It is an essential practice that must be constantly pursued just as physical exercise is continually needed to maintain physical fitness.

Romans 8:29 says “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” Christians are called to be spiritually disciplined so that they can become like God’s Son, who was the perfect example of spiritual health and Godliness.

Although Jesus Christ was proclaimed, by himself and by his followers, to be perfect and sinless throughout his life, he spent a great deal of his time exercising spiritual discipline. Jesus prayed, fasted, studied and taught scripture – the Jewish scripture of his day consisted of the Old Testament portion of the bible – and he continually sought his Heavenly Father in all areas of his life.

The lives of Jesus Christ and his disciples serve as great examples of spiritual discipline for believers, but the question may still remain in some as to why the disciplines are necessary. Joshua 1:8 gives us a firm directive here: “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” Psalm 1:2 tells us of the spiritual practitioner that “…his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.”

Learning to be spiritually disciplined is very similar to the physical and mental disciplines. They must be constantly exercised or the level of health will rapidly decline. Conversely, the levels of strength and health will continually increase as long as the discipline is exercised. Perhaps most importantly, spiritual discipline will cause Christians to grow in ways that they might never have thought possible or even understood.

The Depth of Perception will be studying the spiritual disciplines in addition to many others with the ultimate goal of achieving a complete state of health and fitness that is rare in our present day. I hope and pray that you will continue with me in this pursuit, and I know that through it we will all gain the ability to become much more than we are today.

Kevin