When I was a young Christian in the 80’s, the wise words of a church elder in our small group (Danny Chia) made an indelible mark on my heart which has served as a safeguard for my soul to this day: “As soon as you think you will never fall into a particular sin or temptation, you are already vulnerable.” (Probably not verbatim, but that was the essence of what he said.) It served to help me embrace my fragile humanity, my weakness, my brokenness, but most of all … my utter and desperate need for Christ every step of my journey in spiritual growth. His grace is sufficient for me and his power is made perfect in my weakness (2 Cor. 12:9).
But to quote Dallas Willard (known for Christian spiritual formation): “The path of spiritual growth in the riches of Christ is not a passive one. Grace is not opposed to effort. It is opposed to earning. Effort is action. Earning is attitude.” And so, we have been reminded throughout 2021 to “Make Every Effort” in taking actionable steps towards maturity in Christ – to cultivate our inner life by intentionally practising spiritual disciplines like:
- Bible reading, meditation and memorization
- prayer
- fasting
- hearing and obeying God’s voice (listen well, obey quickly)
- worship (personal and corporate)
- journaling
- repentance and confession of sin
This is by no means a complete list of spiritual disciplines, and neither have some of them become a consistent habit in my life – yet. (I’m still working on it.). But I’m so grateful that I belong to a Kingdom Family at Lifespring where the above disciplines are taught and being practiced in increasing measure. As these disciplines become more and more entrenched in our lifestyle, we grow in our maturity as disciples of Christ and conform to His image for the glory of God. The more mature we become, we more we reflect Christ to others, the more we become a blessing to others and the more we advance the Kingdom of God here on earth. But it all begins with cultivating our inner life. And cultivating requires effort!
These spiritual disciplines are not new. In fact they are ancient, so ancient that they have become new again because over the course of time, the church of Jesus Christ at large has lost its way and forgotten the ancient disciplines that help us cultivate our inner lives. Or we’ve failed to make every effort. This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it …” (Jeremiah 6:16). Walking requires effort!
It has been over 30 years since Danny Chia’s words first impacted me! Since then, I have sadly seen the rise and fall of prominent Christian leaders, even as recent as last year. Powerful, influential leaders, even “spiritual giants” – many of whom carried global influence for Christ before their fall from grace. Once again, I am reminded of my own fragile humanity, weakness and brokenness. My own vulnerability. And my utter and desperate need for Christ and His finished work on the cross. It is His grace that empowers us to make every effort to walk in the “good way” and stay on course – to cultivate and guard our inner life to the very end of our earthly journey so that we finish well. “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” (Proverbs 4:23)
This is what Lifegroups at Lifespring is primarily about – discipleship – equipping followers of “The Way” (Acts 24:14) to cultivate our inner life and grow in our relationship with Jesus. As we hear story after story of how churches have been struggling throughout the pandemic with people drifting away in isolation, dwindling finances, despair and hopelessness ….. may we be ever more aware of our need for Jesus and pray for the Body of Christ to persevere. Let us not give up meeting together but continue spurring one another on toward love and good deeds, encouraging one another to cultivate our inner life and grow more and more in love with Jesus.