I recently came across a very interesting topic that impacted my life greatly, and that topic was spiritual discipline. There are many forms of spiritual discipline that we as Christian encounter each day. Spiritual discipline is an aid that helps us be more like Jesus. It trains us to hear His voice and obey Him. Spiritual discipline is not obeying the laws and commandments, it is talking with God and showing the internal change that He put in us on the outside. Spiritual discipline puts us in a position where we go before Him and he transforms us and makes us new. “Disciplines are things you do— such as read, meditate, pray, fast, worship, serve, learn, and so on. The goal of practicing a given Discipline, of course, is not about doing …show more content…
When you do a Bible study, you observe certain scriptures, books, or lectures. Bible studying is analytical and you seek the deeper meaning in all of it. It is not like meditation where you meditate on a word and it is not limited to books or lectures. As Terry Tarsuik said it’s “careful attention to something that moves the mind towards God” (T.T., 2015). Studying helps the Christian mind understand what significance of what they are studying and expands their horizon. Outward
Outward spiritual Discipline in my opinion is something that Christians should do on the outside to make a difference. It is not something that happens internally in a person. Outward spiritual discipline is something that should be done on external lifestyle of a Christian. A lot of outward spiritual disciplines has to do with helping others and impacting other peoples lives.
Simplicity
Simplicity is the need to live a simply. Simplicity sets things in their proper place and let things take their course. It is an inward change that is expressed outwardly. Simplicity gives unity and balance to the Christian life. “Simplicity is freedom from the worldly values that brings true joy and balance…The discipline requires us to differentiate between what are our ‘needs’ and ‘wants’” (Authentic
As we develop a closer relationship with Christ we are to end up more mindful of His Holiness.
1 Corinthians 9: 25-27 states “All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. 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” (NLT).
The first portion of Jesus teachings were made up of blessings known as beatitudes. Beatitudes are a set of teachings by Jesus. The word beatitude stimulates from a Latin adjective beatitudo which means happiness, fortunate, and blissful. The beatitudes are mainly located in versus 3 to 6. According to Wilkins, “They apply in an almost, “upside down” reality and this vision that should be adhered to life in operating the kingdom life among God’s people.” If an individual decided to disobey or decided to not follow the rules of the pattern of this world, God would considered that type of behavior as an upside down life style. If you are an authentic discipline you would follow the guidelines of the beatitudes. “Jesus was looking to set goals in the beatitudes and the whole Sermon on the Mount. These goals should not be seen as impossible ideals, rather a new kind of life that strives,permeats and change lives”(Robinson, et al.).
Simplicity is defined in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary as a simple state or quality; freedom from complexity; absence of elegance and luxury; uncomplicated. In the world today, many people think that an iphone or computer watch may make their world simple, but these technologies only make the world we live in more complex. Somehow there is confusion between simple and easy. It is most certainly easier to phone someone from your car rather than pulling over to a pay phone and getting out a quarter. It is also easier to put a letter in the fax machine rather than addressing an envelope and putting a stamp on it and walking it to the mailbox. These two instances that have been described are, in fact, easier, but not simpler. Simple is not having to figure out how to use the cell phone or fax machine and, at the same time, having these two items cluttering our space. Fewer people communicate through cards and letters now because we have e-mail and fewer people go to the library because we have the Internet. These are great items and they may make life easier, but not simpler.
The Rosary is an ancient prayer narrating the entire story of Salvation. The whole Rosary is composed of twenty decades that can be split over four days of five decades. Each decade is divided by sets of Mysteries: Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, Glorious (please see appendix for a complete and detailed example). After the beautiful experience of the Liturgy of the hours, which is now become part of my daily life for the three major hours, I want to discover the deeper meaning of my habit to pray the Rosary. I am part of an international group of Catholics committed to pray five decades of the Holy Rosary every day for World’s Peace. We pray Joyful Mysteries on Mondays and Saturdays, Luminous Mysteries
In my mind the word discipline can mean so many different things. It’s actually quite hard for me to explain exactly what it means. If I were to look the word up in Webster’s dictionary it might say that discipline “is control that is gained by requiring that rules or orders be obeyed and punishing bad behavior. I somewhat agree with that definition. As a prior soldier I most definitely respect rules and order. I know that my life and the lives of others I served with relied heavily on discipline. I think that when most men think of the word discipline a few images come to their minds. Some men think of R. Lee Ermey the Drill Instructor in Full Metal Jacket. Some men think of Vince Lombardi the Super Bowl winning coach. I often think of these tough in your face men with larger than life personalities. I also think of other men like Frederick Douglass, Thomas Edison, Clarence Thomas, Ronald Reagan,
Spirituality is a broad concept, often met with skepticism, but for those who believe in spirituality, it is something real and can have positive effects. Spirituality is difficult to operationalize because it is defined and understood in multiple ways. Participants in studies have described spirituality from experiencing a connection with God or a higher power, to believing something exists that is beyond oneself, to being a search for inner peace and supporting core values to become an ideal human (Hodge & McGrew, 2006). For this paper, spirituality will be defined as an inclusive, multidimensional phenomenon (Starks, Vakalahi & McPhatter, 2014). As well, for this paper belief in spirituality, belief in something bigger than oneself, whether
Prayer is another extremely important discipline for believers to practice. When explaining prayer one must first understand what prayer is. An anonymous author in an article known as the Quiver wrote the following statement about what prayer is:
As I reflect on spiritual disciplines it is easy for me to look at them and weed out the ones that I do not think apply to me and the ones that I am drawn towards. But as I press into God and ask him what he sees fit and what I need more of, the picture begins to looks different than what I thought I saw before. Since I am so obviously human, I would rather see my life through a different more accurate lens than one that is tainted and imperfect like those of my human eyes. When I look at my life spiritually it is easy for me to see the spiritual disciplines that just come naturally to me such as worship and service. Since I know that those are areas of my faith that I thrive in, I tend to gravitate towards those to try and satisfy my spiritual life but I leave other parts to suffer. I want to gain better understanding of my faith and ultimately cultivate a deeper relationship with the Father.
For example, almost all the Christians who work at their workplace have to face spiritual worldliness. It is common to socialize with other coworkers. However, when they meet each other outside of their workplace, they tend to go to a bar or somewhere they can drink alcohol. Christians might be tempted to drink alcohol, because they have strong desires of flesh. However, if they set apart from the worldliness, they may banish their desires of the flesh and follow the Word of God. Furthermore, holiness helps Christians to warn or flee from disobedient Christians (2. Thess. 3:6, 14-15; 1 Cor. 5:9-13). In other words, holiness helps the Christian to see himself, whether he is obeying God or not, and helps him to distinguish whether his bretheren obeys the Word of God or not.
... In order to understand the Bible we must read it as the Psalmist says “O how I love Thy law! It is my meditation all the day.” (Psa. 119:97). However there some suggestions to cope with the study of the Bible in effective manner. The Bible was written a long time ago before us. That is why we need to deal with some back grounds, context, and theology differs with our time. Some hermeneutics principles can help us how to work in the better frame of interpret the Bible, such as the literary context, historical context and how to compare Scripture.
When Christians first encounter the idea of creating a spiritual discipline, some almost instantly become overwhelmed with anxiety because they must perform well for God to please Him and get to heaven. I was once one of them and to a point, I still think that way. However, the more focus on the relationship with Jesus and nothing else brings about the desires to want more in terms of spiritual growth. Desires however, do not last if disciplines are not met with a genuine commitment to maintain a fervent relationship with Jesus. For my rule of life, I will pencil in daily life disciplines that fit in the season of life that I am in currently so that God can work in me and I can become Christ like. First, I will commit fifteen minutes to daily prayer with God. Second, I will commit fifteen minutes to daily scripture reading. Third, I will commit to lead, encourage and support my wife by living out the vows that we both agreed to with God. Fourth, I will commit myself to my family in raising my two
Discipline is intended to cease misbehavior in the classroom. Effective classroom management procedures contribute to an environment that enhance learning and reduce discipline problems (Edwards, 2004). The goal of discipline is to help students learn to control their own behavior. Effective teachers apply various disciplinary techniques that help in curtailing misbehavior and promote self-discipline in students (Charles, 1996). Effective discipline is emotionally disconnected from student actions (Henley, Ramsey and Algozzine, 1999). According to Dreikurs, discipline is a process in which students learn to impose reasonable limits on themselves (Charles, 1996).
I think you would have to conclude that living simple could be a great way to a possibly better world. However it is entirely up to the individual. You can’t be forced into simple living. I think that for a short while anybody would enjoy, even love, simple living but after a while you feel like you miss out on a bunch of things. That’s because our society is build up around all the things that you suddenly disconnects from your life.
Jesus cleared this up for his followers in John’s gospel, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing (The Holy Bible).” A Christ follower’s formation is represented several times throughout Scripture as “fruit.” Here, Jesus is making it clear: spiritual formation, and being conformed to his image, is something which happens to us. Again, Christian spiritual formation takes its followers in a very different direction. Humans working hard toward a more spiritual life makes sense, but a process where spiritual progress means leaving the work to someone else doesn’t. However, this is seen time and time again in God’s messages to his followers. Another instance happens in John’s first letter, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins (The Holy Bible).” Even the most basic function of spirituality, love, is preceded by God loving his children, which grants them the ability to love others. Driving this whole process of spiritual formation then seems to be trust in “the vine” to finish the formative work he