Which of the following are similar to the ways you've served Christ in your family? [check all that apply]
• Taught your kids to see God's glory in nature
• Washed the dishes without being asked
• Played a board game with your kids
• Encouraged your wife to finish her master's degree
• Attended a child's open house at school
• Worked fewer hours to be with your family
• Set an example of a godly prayer life for your children
• Held a crying child
• Swung on the tire swing with your daughter
• Told your wife why you're still in love with her
• Told your son he's got what it takes
• Coached soccer
• Let you child correct you now and then
• Fixed the vacuum cleaner
• Taught your sons to ride a bike
• Listened patiently to a complaint of your wife
• Taped your child's artwork to your office wall
• Admitted to your kids that you were wrong
• Told your children how Christ entered your life
• Cleaned up vomit
• Taught your children to love books
• Been romantic without expecting sex
• Told your daughter she's smart/beautiful
• Set standards for your kids and stuck to them
• Dealt graciously with a busybody neighbor
• Peeled carrots
• Watched movies together
Beyond Lip Service Theme of the Week: A Spiritual Workout Friday, April 16, 2004
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Men of IntegrityMarch/April 2004Beyond Lip ServiceTheme of the Week: A Spiritual WorkoutFriday, April 1672
Key Bible Verse: "And remember, it is a message to obey, not just to listen to"(James 1:22). Bonus Reading:James 1:19–27
If the Christian life enables us to become what we were created to be, why do Christians often struggle to become more like Christ? Author and former pastor Eugene Peterson faced this tension when attending a religious conference as an adolescent. People from his church gathered every summer by a lake where they exhibited fiery spiritual intensity. Yet Peterson noticed little continuity between the exuberance they expressed at the conference grounds and their everyday lives back in town.
Christians aren't alone on this frustrating journey. Fitness guru Bill Phillips recalled attending a fitness convention and coming face–to–face with a number of his books' readers. They were happy to see him, but he wasn't so happy to see them since only about 80 of 600 looked physically fit.
These out–of–shape followers lost their way on the transformational journey. It's easy to do if you forget these dynamics: desire, knowledge, and power. Desire is the longing for change, knowledge is the awareness of the path you need to take to experience change, and power is the ability to capitalize on your desire and knowledge.
—James Emery White in Long Night's Journey into Day
My Response: Which do I need right now: desire, knowledge, or power?
Thought to Apply: You can judge the quality of their faith from the way they behave. Discipline is an index to doctrine.
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