Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.
1 Timothy 4.7

New and Improved!
Now 40% More Effective!

We’ve gotten pretty skeptical of the marketing clichés, haven’t we? We don’t really think that the infomercial cleaning product is going to make housework a breeze. We don’t really think that the debt elimination program is going to have us living on easy street in no time. We don’t really think that the cream is going to reverse aging. We’ve learned not to trust the hype, and rightfully so.

But what about the spiritual hype? Walk into any Christian bookstore, and you will be inundated with tons of books, magazines, and products offering you tips and secrets to godliness. The marketing sounds a lot like its secular counterpart. Most of the time, though, that is all it is – marketing.

Godliness is not a secret. Sins don’t just magically disappear from our lives. Habits don’t undo themselves. Like anything else worth doing, the process of living for Jesus in this world takes some hard work and effort.

As Paul advises his young friend Timothy, we need to train ourselves to be godly. An essential part of that training is the spiritual disciplines. The spiritual disciplines are behaviors and exercises that have been developed and practiced by followers of Jesus (and others, for that matter) that serve to deepen our ability to live godly lives.

Certainly, these practices don’t earn us God’s love or favor. They don’t make us more lovable or desirable to God. The Bible is clear that your relationship with God is based solely on your faith in Jesus who has accomplished it for you on the cross. You can’t work your way into God’s good graces.

Rather, the spiritual disciplines position us to be ready and available recipients of God’s ongoing grace in our lives. Let’s be honest – frequently, we are not in the right frame of mind to connect with God. We are distracted or confused or busy or stubborn. We need something to shake us out of our normal routine and rhythm. These practices open us up to see and hear things we may have otherwise missed.

Further, we can think of the spiritual disciplines like exercises. Say, for instance, that you have a muscle that is flabby and weak. There are certain exercises you can learn and perform that will enable you to develop tone and build strength in that problem area. Spiritual disciplines do the same thing, helping us to target and address the specific sins that we struggle with.

It’s not a comprehensive list, but here are some disciplines and the sins they can help address:

Bible Intake – selfishness, addiction
Prayer – worry, lust
Fasting – gluttony, sexual immorality
Church Attendance – laziness, judgmentalism
Generosity – greed, consumerism
Silence – gossip, lying, an uncontrolled tongue
Journaling – bad attitudes, uncontrolled emotions
Meditating – believing lies, unhealthy self-talk
Solitude – busyness, stress
Confession – hypocrisy, wrath
Simplicity – materialism, envy
Guidance – pride, self-reliance

My challenge and encouragement to you is to pick one of these disciplines that addresses some area of struggle in your life. Research it, learn it, and do it. And you never know what God may do in and through you as a result!

Vintage Fellowship is an emerging church serving Northwest Arkansas from Fayetteville AR. Their current series on utilizing spiritual disciplines to overcome sin is called There’s An App For That.