Out of Moab
Celebration of Discipline
Spiritual growth has been a foundational source of healing in my life. In the upcoming weeks, I will be walking through Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline. I discovered Celebration of Discipline only in the last 10 years. But when I finally got around to reading it, I wished I had read it years ago! Like all classic works, it is somehow both basic and profound.
Though I feel like I’ve learned a lot about the specific disciplines, the greater value has been in how it has helped me to reframe spiritual practices as making space to encounter God instead of a checklist of things “good” Christians should do.
While it’s easy to fall into the trap of being legalistic about spiritual disciplines, the danger is to over-correct out of a fear of legalism, ultimately avoiding practices that could help you grow.
Foster strikes the appropriate balance of highlighting God’s work in us without neglecting our responsibility to walk out what we are learning - sanctification is cooperative!
“continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:12b-13)
I’ve led small groups and even a retreat group through this book. It is comprehensive and applicable to every Christian, no matter where they are on their journey with Christ. Because of our unique temperaments and personalities, each of us have disciplines that are easier for us, as well as ones that are not as comfortable. There is tremendous benefit to both deepening already-existing practices as well as being challenged to walk in disciplines that aren’t as natural for us.
This will be a twelve-week series, taking one week for each of Foster’s disciplines:
Inward Disciplines
Meditation
Prayer
Fasting
Study
Outward Disciplines
Simplicity
Solitude/Silence
Submission
Service
Corporate Disciplines
Confession
Worship
Guidance
Celebration
Each week, I will spotlight one of Foster’s disciplines. I’ll give an overview of the discipline, share my experience and point out what might be helpful and/or challenging. I will also give a couple of suggestions on ways to practice each discipline.
Does this sound like fun? I'd love to have you join me in my journey! In preparation for next week’s post on Meditation, when you subscribe this week, I will send you a resource to help you begin to practice Meditation, using an exercise called Lectio Divina.
Lectio Divina is Latin for “divine reading” and is a different way to engage with Scripture, especially for those of us with a more scholarly bent! Instead of diving into commentaries and concordances, the focus is on encountering God in His word and engaging with Him. I will be talking about my experience with Lectio Divina next week, as well as defining and explaining other forms of Christian Meditation.
Question of the week:
What spiritual disciplines have you practiced, and which ones have been most beneficial for you? Which ones are challenging? Comment below – I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Hey, I'm Deanna!
I'll start with the typical introductory details - I live in Wisconsin and work as an Administrative Assistant for a non-profit organization - but those are the least interesting things about me!
I love reading (theology, spiritual formation, biographies), baking and cooking, hiking and exploring the the beauty God has created - in all 4 seasons! All of these things bring me life, and they are all things I will be writing about here - so if any of that is interesting to you, subscribe and stick around for a while!
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