Living A Spiritually Disciplined Life

“Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly. ‘Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.’” (1 Timothy 4:7-8, NLT)

“I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.” (1 Corinthians 9:27, NLT)

“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing… I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!” (John 15:5, 9-11, NLT)

I loved all things ballet growing up and enjoyed performing in a local ballet company throughout my high school years. One of the exercises I was disciplined in doing prior to dancing on pointe was a ballet move called a relevé. These tiny movements involved me raising my heels off of the floor, thus shifting the weight of my body onto the balls of my feet. Doing repetitions of relevés strengthened the muscles in the arches of my feet. They also made my ankles stronger, allowing me to stand on my toes in my new, satin pointe shoes.

However, if I was undisciplined in practicing these tiny, seemingly insignificant relevés, then my arches and ankles would be too weak to sustain the weight of my body—causing me to run the risk of breaking an ankle or straining the arch of my foot.

So, I disciplined my body in this way. Because I did so, the muscles in my feet grew stronger. I was able to balance on my toes as I turned and danced across the stage, dancing in several solo roles in full-length ballets such as The Nutcracker and Swan Lake.

Similar to how ballerinas train to dance in pointe shoes, we must train for godliness if we want to ignite our influence in God’s Kingdom. If we do not possess godliness, we will be unable to ignite the influence He has called us to have this side of heaven. For us to have godliness we must practice a different kind of relevé, known as a spiritual discipline, daily.

A spiritual discipline is a habit of devotion or practice that helps us grow closer to Jesus Christ and mature spiritually. Like a ballerina’s relevés, the spiritual disciplines may seem tedious. The effects of doing them may be unnoticeable or even seem painful at first. For example, sitting still and being quiet for any length of time is hard for me! But how often you choose to do them impacts how effortlessly you dance through your life of faith.

While important to practice, spiritual disciplines do not earn us favor with God or save us. Nor should they be used to make us feel spiritually successful or more devout than other Christians who may not be practicing them. Rather, spiritual disciplines help us pursue and increase our focus on our Father God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit throughout our daily lives.

Spiritual disciplines are not law but rather beautiful means to our Christlike end.

I have retired from dancing ballet, but there is no retirement from knowing, loving, and serving God on this side of heaven. I continue to pray, serve, study the Bible, and practice the other spiritual disciplines on a regular basis. I encourage you to do the same.

For while my pointe shoes are aging and collecting dust in my closet, I do not want your intimacy with God to diminish and collect dust either. Enjoy living a spiritually disciplined life. May these Christ-focused relevés help you grow in godliness throughout the years to come!

Reflect:

The key to incorporating spiritual disciplines daily into your life is persistence! The more you do them, the more your intimacy with God increases. Examples of spiritual disciplines include prayer, fasting, Bible study, simplicity, solitude, service, and celebration. Are you trying to achieve godliness apart from living a disciplined life, spiritually? How can you begin to practice the spiritual disciplines more?

Prayer:

Thank you, God, for wanting to have a relationship with me. Help me to seek You faithfully through the spiritual disciplines so that I can grow to know You more and increase my influence in Your Kingdom. Amen.