This Summer Become Spiritually Fit: Self Discipline's Benefits

With the warm weather of summer comes the next wave of self improvement resolutions and makeovers second only to those we indulge in at New Years. We want to be in shape for the pool and the beach. We want to be ready to hike the Grand Canyon or ride the white waters of the Colorado River. Or at least some of us do. A growing number of people desire more from life than achieving physical fitness goals. Some of us want to be spiritually fit like a new friend that I recently met for coffee. Her goal this summer is to grow closer to God. She is longing for a deeper relationship to Him. In order to succeed she will need to do something different than she has been doing. She will need to change. She has decided to use Bible study, one form of spiritual discipline as the means to grow closer to God this summer. To be successful she will have to be self disciplined.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 NIV

When I think of self discipline, I always think of spiritual discipline. That is where personal transformation begins. I don't believe spiritual discipline equals spiritual growth, but is a catalyst for it. It gets us moving, gets us over the hurdle of ourselves. Spiritual discipline is not natural. Self discipline is not natural. People who practice discipline love the benefits. It is like a jogger's high or enjoying the feeling of well being that goes with being fit. No one loves the pain of exercise. Let's face it self discipline is dying to self. I agreed with my pastor Dr. Hall when he labeled self discipline confusing and frustrating. Our confusion and frustration can disqualify us if we don't rise above it. We are the enemy when it comes to self discipline. How we view ourselves, our faulty thinking and our value system can become road blocks at the starting point on the road towards self discipline. We need to accept that self discipline will require effort that is unnatural.

Brenda an artist friend of mine began the year with the practice of monthly spiritual retreats. One day a month with a group of women she spends the morning in corporate prayer. The afternoon is spent in silence. To do this Brenda needed to break with her routine and separate herself from the outside world, devoting a day to seeking God. Hours of corporate prayer are not easy and few are those who are willing to engage in it. Remaining silent especially for a woman is difficult. Focusing on the God one must overcome distractions. When Brenda shared about her retreat she spoke only of the benefit of this monthly exercise. She understood that to get the rewards she needed to give up some of herself.

Brenda showed me sketches she made in her silent time with words scribbled on them expressing her connection with God, his creation and her heart. From this time alone flows her art. It was awesome. Her sketches will become larger works of art.

Brenda's retreats are part of a process she finds herself in as she tries to find how to express her faith in her art. The discipline of painting is not easily maintained, the act of setting your work aside for the God goes against our tendency to make it about ourselves. For Brenda it is a journey that she invites me to be a part of.

We do not know how to give ourselves away to God, to others. We must learn to do it. I believe we learn it in relationships prompted and guided the Spirit. Somehow we need to get from relying on self to relying on the Spirit. I insist it happens in community as we encourage each other.

We also need to value change. Submitting to the process of self discipline is not dreary; it is a vitally personal passionate walk with the living God. He won't allow us to remain the same. You cannot predict how God will accomplish the work in you that must take place. We do not naturally submit to a process that causes us to die to self but that is where you find yourself as you step out in faith. The Holy Spirit will attack the things that prevent us from relying on Him. We think he will perfect them, but instead He destroys them and replaces them with Himself. In that way self discipline is an oxymoron, we cannot do it by ourselves it happens in community. We cannot do it at all; it is performed by the Spirit. We can only submit to the process.