Theology

What Is a Spiritual Director?

What is spiritual director?

1. A person who has a continuing hunger for intimacy with God.

2. A person who has an ability to forgive others at great personal loss.

3. A person who has a lively sense that God alone can satisfy the longings of the human heart.

4. A person who has a deep satisfaction in prayer.

5. A person who has a realistic assessment of personal abilities and limitations.

6. A person who has a fundamental freedom from boasting about spiritual accomplishments.

7. A person who has a demonstrated ability to live out the demands of life patiently and wisely.

Copyright © 2009 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Related Elsewhere:

This article accompanies an article by Richard Foster on “Spiritual Formation Agenda.”

Richard Foster previously wrote on leadership, which accompanied an interview with Christianity Today. CT also interviewed Richard Foster and Dallas Willard on the difference between discipleship and spiritual formation.

Other articles on spiritual formation include:

The Blind Spot of the Spiritual Formation Movement | Let’s not forget the spiritual discipline of choice for the masses. (September 24, 2008)

Back to Sunday School | The author of Spiritual Formation as if the Church Mattered says the church must reclaim its disciple-making infrastructure. (June 26, 2008)

Three Temptations of Spiritual Formation | “When seeking to be shaped by Christ, It is all too easy to veer from a fully Christian approach” (December 9, 2002)

Christianity Today also has more articles on prayer and spirituality.

Also in this issue

The CT archives are a rich treasure of biblical wisdom and insight from our past. Some things we would say differently today, and some stances we've changed. But overall, we're amazed at how relevant so much of this content is. We trust that you'll find it a helpful resource.

Cover Story

Jesus Is Not a Brand

Tyler Wigg-Stevenson

Review

'The Blue Parakeet' Faces Inconvenient Verses

Philip Tallon

PhotographyWatch

Gary Gnidovic

News

Memphis's Other Graceland

Tim Stafford

Pivoting Toward the Faraway Neighbor

Lord, Teach Us to Pray

Compiled by Richard A. Kauffman

What Is Spiritual Direction?

Richard Foster

Spiritual Formation Agenda

Richard Foster

News

Managing Your Money

Rusty Leonard, CEO of Stewardship Partners Investment Counsel

News

A Surefire Investment

Groans Too Deep for Words

Joel Hartse

Faith-based Super Bowl Parties

The Evolution of Darwin

There Goes the Neighborhood

News

Books Uncommon and Offbeat

John Wilson, editor of 'Books and Culture'

News

The Greatest Social Need

A Christianity Today Editorial

Review

Jacaranda

Andy Whitman

News

Evolve or Die

Annie Frisbie

News

Popcorn in the Pews

Ruth Moon

Bush's Envoy's Advice: 'Raise Cain'

Interview by Timothy C. Morgan

News

Building a Peace Beyond Understanding

Isaac Phiri with additional reporting from Jonathan Fitzgerald

Review

Everyday Lord

Mary M. Veeneman

News

Better Than a Bailout

Tony Carnes

News

Battle Fatigue

Sarah Pulliam

Editorial

Don't Let Them Die Alone

A Christianity Today Editorial

How to Help Orphans

Roger Olson

Our Priorities for 2009

News

Go Figure

News

Black Flight

Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra

News

Second Thoughts

Compass Direct News

News

Emergent's Divergence

Brandon O'Brien

News

Microfinance, Now More Micro

Ken Walker

News

News Briefs: January 01, 2009

News

Quotation Marks

News

Passages

News

Up for Debate

Glenn T. Stanton

View issue

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Review

Gen Z Women Are Not Commodities

Elise Brandon

Freya India’s book Girls wants to fix young women’s consumption habits—and the way our culture consumes us.

Excerpt

5 Ways to Forge Male Friendships That Last

Seth Troutt

An excerpt from Authentic Masculinity: Leaving Behind the Counterfeits for God’s Design.

Not Everything Is Christian Nationalism

Automatically hurling this accusation at believers who raise questions about Islam or other issues is intellectually lazy.

The Bulletin

Voting Maps, DHS Funding, Troops in Europe, and Reclaiming ‘Evangelical’

Supreme Court rules on voting maps, DHS shutdown ends, Trump reevaluates troops in Europe, and the controversy over ‘evangelical.’

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Review

Review: Angel Studios’ ‘Animal Farm’

Spinning a happy ending for George Orwell’s dire warning about communism, this film can’t decide if it’s a serious commentary or a collection of fart jokes.

News

Courts Briefly Pause Abortion by Mail, Then Allow It to Resume

After a lower court froze telehealth access to abortion drug mifepristone, the Supreme Court temporarily restored mail-order pills while it plans to consider the case.

Agentic AI Isn’t Laborsaving If You Don’t Know How to Sabbath

A. Trevor Sutton

New tech promises to do our work for us. But it can’t replace our need for rest in God.

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