Diagnosing Your Spiritual Disciplines

Pastor Gary Oser

I want to share yet another question from Donald Whitney’s book, Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health, to help diagnose your spiritual health. The question I would have you consider is: “Are the spiritual disciplines increasingly important to you?”

To answer that question, we must first know what spiritual disciplines are. Allow me to share a couple explanations.

Spiritual disciplines are specific behaviors which help to form Christian character and godliness. They could also be explained as habits of devotion which help produce spiritual growth.

The two most familiar spiritual disciplines are reading/studying God’s Word (the Bible) and prayer. However, there are other spiritual disciplines which are important as well; they include worship, service, confession, silence, stewardship and journaling, to name a few.

The indicator of spiritual health is whether these disciplines are part of your life. Even more importantly, is there an increased desire and emphasis on these things in your life?

We have so many things in our lives that strive for our time and attention. The question is, “How much time do we give to the ‘disciplines’ that will help form Christian character and result in spiritual growth?” Do we give as much time to spiritual disciplines as we give to the nightly news or time on Facebook?

The reason we often neglect spiritual disciplines is because they demand time and hard work. Theologian R.C. Sproul emphasized, “There are no quick and easy paths to spiritual maturity. The soul that seeks a deeper level of maturity must be prepared for a long and arduous task. If we are to seek the kingdom of God, we must abandon any formulae that promise instant spiritual gratification,” (quoted from Whitney’s Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health).

So how are you doing with spiritual disciplines? Are you spending unhurried time daily in the Word of God and prayer? Are there other disciplines that you currently practice? Is there a discipline you are not now practicing that you need to begin?

The Word of God exhorts us in 1 Timothy 4:7, “…Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.”

If you would like to learn more about spiritual disciplines, I recommend two books: The Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster and Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney.