We’re deep into our summer groove and halfway through our Summer Book Club. We hope you’re reading This Changes Everything by Jaquelle Crowe right along with us. This week we tackled Chapter 5: Our Disciplines. Check out the quick video update below, and then keep reading for more insights from this chapter.
What’s a Spiritual Discipline?
Maybe you associate discipline with having your cell phone confiscated or your car keys taken away for a week. That’s not the kind of discipline we read about in this chapter. Jaquelle wrote about spiritual disciplines. She borrowed this definition from another writer: “Those practices found in Scripture that promote spiritual growth among believers in the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are habits of devotion, habits of experiential Christianity that have been practiced by God’s people since biblical times.” In other words, spiritual disciplines aren’t the things we avoid because we are Christians. They also aren’t the things we do to become Christians. They are the things we do because of our relationship with Jesus.
Four Examples
Jaquelle focuses on four spiritual disciplines in this chapter:
- Reading God’s Word.
- Memorizing God’s Word. (More on that in a minute.)
- Praying.
- Evangelizing.
This is not a complete list. There are other spiritual disciplines God calls us to in His Word, like fasting and serving, but these four are important and a great place to start. I know the readers of this blog, and I know that most of you are already reading God’s Word and praying daily. Many of you are passionately sharing your faith (i.e. evangelizing). Way to go! While we may never master the disciplines this side of heaven, I am proud of your commitment in this area. I’d like to nudge you to ask the Lord to help you grow in the discipline of memorizing Scripture. The goal isn’t simply to increase our knowledge so we can impress our friends. The goal is to hide God’s Word in our hearts so that we are transformed from the inside out. Specifically, I’d like to repeat Jaquelle’s challenge to memorize entire books of the Bible. I’m going to start memorizing 1 John. It’s a tiny little book, jam-packed with truth; it’s a great place to start. Join me? Spend some time praying about memorizing an entire book of the Bible. Ask for the Lord’s help. Then leave us a comment telling us which book you’ve picked so that we can cheer you on!
To Help Along the Way
Jaquelle lists several resources to help with Scripture memorization. I’m passing them along to you.
- An Approach to Extended Memorization of Scripture by Andrew Davis
- Fighter Verses
- The Verses Project
- Seeds Family Worship
- Typographic Verses
- Memorize Now
Be sure to hop back on the blog next Monday. Bethany will lead our discussion on Chapter 6: Our Growth. Ready. Set. Memorize!