Fro Christians who've been around that sub-culture for a while (and i ave being a Pastor's kid growing up), there's a tendency for the disciplines to become mechanical to a point of it becoming almost hypocritical. Things such as meeting together, singing, praying, reading scripture and other Christian disciplines.
I've found that when we lose sight of the WHY, things begin to lose purpose and meaning. We may start out with the right and good intentions but over time it become a meaningless ritual.
Disciplines enable us to do what we were created for and become better at it over time. When athletes train, it's not something new everyday. It's a schedule of the same diet, exercise and routine repeated daily to strengthen specific muscles, build strength and stamina. So that when they finally compete they can do so with minimal damage, in optimum shape and hopefully win! Their goal is not just to do the daily regimen, the goal is to compete and win!
Our spiritual growth is not much different. The spiritual disciplines of prayer, scripture study and memorization, meeting together regularly, sharing, simple living, generosity, Holy Spirit dependence together with many other disciplines need to be practiced regularly if we are to run the race effectively and later qualify for the prize. It can be tedious at times and requires hard work so we must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, He is the goal. Not to complete 15 mins of prayer and scripture reading, rather it's to become like Christ.
Why do you do what you do?
