Spiritual Disciplines: Door to Liberation

Currently I am teaching "Spiritual Discipline" in my church. Those who are interested, our class start at 11.30am, Education Block Level 5, every Sunday. This book, "Celebration of Discipline" by Richard Foster was one of my reference book. Let me share a little bit of my study in this post.

A Study base on "Celebration of Discipline" (Richard Foster)

The intention of spiritual discipline is to invite us to explore the spiritual realm. In today world, spirituality is becoming superficial. Spiritual discipline is to call us to move from surface living into the depths.Spiritual discipline is not for spiritual giants, but for ordinary human beings.

Spiritual discipline is to help ordinary people experiencing God transforming power which liberate themselves from the bondage of worldly desire.

Spiritual disciplines are not hard to practices but require time and effort. As you practice spiritual discipline, you will face two struggles:

1. The philosophic mind of human. We tend to doubt our ability of reaching beyond the physical world. We try to use intellectual and rationality to limit our understanding of the unseen spiritual realm.
2. Practical of spiritual disciplines. We don’t really know how to practice spiritual disciplines. There are not much practical steps that stated in the Bible to lead us in practicing spiritual disciplines.

Spiritual habits set us free from the ingrained habits of sin. When we were sinners, our lives were live under the condition of sin. The natural motions of our lives are sinful. Sin is part of the internal structure of our lives. We are being trapped by sin.

We try to use will power and determination to overcome sin. However, such power will only result in temporal success. The Bible teaches us to deal with our mind and our inner self rather than just physical victory.

Spiritual discipline is to help us re-direct our focus to God, relying on His power and grace to transform us. God has given us the disciplines of the spiritual life as a means of receiving His grace. However, take note that the spiritual discipline by itself can do nothing. They are only a means, a channel for God’s grace. The practices do not produce transformation, but it will put us in the place where we can receive God’s grace for transformation.

However, there is a danger to put the spiritual disciplines higher than God. This becomes legalism. The spiritual disciplines are not laws; they are only God given means for us to break out from our sinful condition and into a new condition where we can receive God’s abundance grace. Our heart and attitude towards the spiritual disciplines will affect our spiritual life.