The challenge we as Christians face each day is bringing our bodies into submission to our soul, by the power of God’s Spirit and according to His Word. Today’s excerpt from The Disciplined Life is found on pages 17 and 18:
“We can identify five such groups of disciplines in particular: spiritual disciplines, for loving God and the health of our souls; relational disciplines, for showing love to our neighbors; vocational disciplines, to do the work appointed to us with excellence; communal disciplines, for working together with others in the Kingdom; and provisional disciplines, to aid us in times of trial and temptation. Each of these can be reduced to repeatable and improvable routines and protocols, which, taken together, help us to subdue the members of our bodies for obedience to Christ in every area of our lives.
“These roles and repertoires are amenable to more precise definition and development, as we study the life of Christ and search the Scriptures for supporting or illustrative passages. By working hard at these disciplines, we can build up the necessary strength and skills—of mind, heart, conscience, and life—to enable us to fulfill our calling and do good works with our bodies…
“Of course, everything we have been discussing thus far regarding the discipline of the body relates to how we use the time of our lives. We only speak with others, listen to their concerns, and lend our hands and bodies to serve them within the framework of time. “Thus, it is important that, as Paul says, we learn to make the best use of time.”
For reflection or discussion
1. How many of these disciplines—and which—are you pursuing and practicing in your life?
2. What does it mean to redeem our time or to make the best use of it?
We all have the same amount of time every day. It’s not that we need more time to live a disciplined life, be we need better time or better use of our time if we’re going to shape our bodies and souls to do the work Jesus has appointed for us. And thus redeeming the time God gives us each day is an every-day challenge and calling. Share today’s podcast with some friends. Encourage your friends to listen to the podcast as well. Then get together to discuss how you can make better use of your time for a more disciplined life.. You can download a free copy of The Disciplined Life by going to The Ailbe Bookstore. Get yours, then share it with all your friends.
T. M. Moore
