Tag: spiritual discipline

Fitbit Faith

September 12, 2016 /

For my birthday I received the absolutely delightful gift of a Fitbit from a dear friend.

I LOVE it! John says they designed this little gadget with type A, goal-setting, competitive, rule-followers like me in mind.

This magical wristband tracks your activity, sleep, and may even make your breakfast for you (I’m still looking into that).

At least 10,000 steps a day is the target. John just shakes his head and laughs when I jump up and start walking in circles around the kitchen island after my wrist has tingled and a prompt has reminded me I have 75 more steps to go in order to make 250 for the hour. Whatever…It works for me.

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But I’ve found this little motivational marvel has some lessons for my faith as well as my physical fitness.

  • Things are not always what they seem. Facing the facts is life-giving. Before I had hard data, I assumed some activities were more beneficial than they actually are, and I discounted some that turn out to be valuable. In the realm of the spirit, Satan is the father of lies and will always be distorting, distracting, and discouraging. This is why it is so important for us to “bring every thought captive” to the Truth of God’s Word.
  • Intention is crucial. No one drifts into fitness and no one drifts into spiritual maturity. Discipline pays off. Every tiny step of obedience adds up. Evennnnnnntually it will pay off on the scale physically, but more importantly discipline pays off in spiritual transformation over time.
  • Intention CAN become legalism. I have been known to run up and down stairs at 11:30 at night just to get in my last hundred steps if it’s been a slow day. I’m such a rule-follower that I need to be careful that I’m more about the big picture than the letter of the law. When a goal, or a task (no matter how good) becomes more important than loving the person in front of me, I need a reset. I also need to be willing to LET IT GOOOOOO. God, our loving Father is all about grace, not shame.

As helpful as this might be for me, writer Chris Rogers points out that Spiritual discipline is more romance than formula.  Whatever is going to stir us to greater depths of love and devotion to Jesus is where we need to take our steps. Are you with me?!

Canceling Church

December 21, 2011 /

Christmas lands on Sunday this year (in case you missed the memo).                              And my husband is a pastor.                                                                                                       And he scheduled Christmas morning worship.                                                          How do you feel about that?

You may think, “It’s Sunday!  Slam dunk!  That’s as it should be!  I personally can have a worshipful spirit while still in my pj’s at home on Christmas morning, but it’s good to know there will be church as usual for, you know… other people.”

Or you may think, “Absolutely!  We will have have opened gifts, enjoyed brunch, and we’re planning to get to church early just to make sure we can get a good seat.  Anyone not in church must not love Jesus.”

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The Question to ask this Christmas Season

November 28, 2011 /

Most of us, full of Thanksgiving turkey, football, family fun (if you have a healthy family) or family angst (if yours is more dysfunctional) are ready to glide into the Christmas season like Santa on a sleigh filled with toys.

We’re also ready to ask the crucial questions of the season:

  • Is it really “Christian” to say “Happy Holidays”?  Is “Merry Christmas” in the Bible?
  • Is Santa a bad idea and what about that pesky new interloper, “Elf on the Shelf”? What’s a parent to do?
  • What’s the best way to manage the animals in a live nativity? (wrangling a camel is no small feat)
  • And along those same lines, is it appropriate to approach a pregnant woman in October or November and call dibs on her baby for the creche?
  • What’s the proper etiquette for Christmas Eve candle lighting?  Who tips and who holds their candle upright so there is no wax leakage or hair flameouts?
  • Is it legal to roll out ready-made Pilsbury sugar cookie dough for cutouts and pass them off as homemade?

I was thinking about this this morning as I was making my 18-foot long “to do” list.  I love to do lists!  I love EVERYTHING about Christmas!  But, like I wrote last week, I think that the activity of Christmas can hinder the activity of God in my life.  So while the questions above may be critical for some, the one question I want to ask myself daily this Advent season is,

“Will Christmas still come if I don’t do this one thing?”

If I say “no” to this invitation?

If I don’t make this gift?

If I don’t have this new decoration?

If I’m not the one to host?

What’s the one thing it would be a good idea to put on your “don’t do” list this season?  Really.  I’d love to hear.

I woke up this morning thinking of something John Ortberg once said, “Sometimes sleep is the most spiritual thing you can do.”

Spirit Stretch Friday and a Bathroom Scale

October 14, 2011 /

I hate scales.  They’re so….ungracious.

Like many people, I struggle with my weight.  Ten pounds up, ten pounds down, ten pounds up… (If you don’t struggle with your weight I’m not sure we can be friends). A discipline that’s become really important for me is weighing in.

A few years ago I heard a podcast where the speaker did something fascinating.  He asked 3 brave (foolish?) people to come up on stage and tell the congregation what they thought they weighed.  Then he pulled out a scale.  He asked each of them to get on the scale one at a time, and, you guessed it, each of them had said they weighed significantly less than they actually did.  The scale was the truth-teller.

That gave me an idea.  The discipline of weighing in makes me aware of how I might need to adjust my eating or exercise.  It’s pretty stupid if I make myself face the truth and then don’t do anything about it.  So just recently I decided this physical discipline might be combined with a spiritual discipline.

This may sound really cheesy, but awhile ago I wrote these verses on a card and put them on the scale:

James 2:22-25 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.  Those who listen to the word but do not do what it says are like people who look at their faces in a mirror and, after looking at themselves, go away and immediately forget what they look like.  But those who look intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continue in it – not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it – they will be blessed in what they do.

So the other day I REALLY didn’t want to get on the scale.  I KNEW I was not going to like what I’d see because the day before I had eaten more than I should.  But I made myself get on the scale anyway and you know what?  I DIDN’T like what the scale said, but in addition, as I thought about the verse on the scale, God brought to mind something else I really didn’t want to face – someone I needed to go to and ask forgiveness.  I needed to DO something.

The great thing was that when I did have the hard conversation I needed to have, the person was extremely gracious and I felt like it honored God and brought our relationship to a healthier place.

That scale and that verse were reminders that part of growing in discipleship is facing some things we don’t want to face and then doing something about it.

Maybe this practice helps stretch the spiritual muscles of examination, obedience, humility… What do you think?  Is there a discipline in your life that helps you face the truth?

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