A Compelling Testimony: Maintaining a Disciplined Walk, Christlike Character, and Godly Relationships as God's Servant

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A Compe l l i ng Tes t imony

b. We are to be devoted to and zealous for good works (i.e., missions, service projects, etc.).

(1) Titus 2.14 – . . . who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. (2) Titus 3.8 – The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. (3) Titus 3.14 – And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful.

V. Principles and Implications of A Disciplined Life

In the four Gospels, Jesus engages in numerous acts of devotion (solitude, fasting, prayer, meditation, Scripture reading, submission, worship). Some are done in private, others with his disciples and still others are carried out in public settings. Although these acts are often part of the background of the narrative, the Gospels present Jesus as a person whose spiritual life draws on his communion with the Father. The Gospel accounts quietly highlight what Jesus did in his “time off” and imply that his ministry flowed out of this joyful and disciplined life of the spirit. In his use of Scripture we observe a person of meditation and study. And in his prayer life (Luke 11.1), his solitude (Luke 5.16) and his fasting (Luke 4.2,14), we encounter one whose life is lived in communion with his Father.

~ Leland Ryken. Dictionary of Biblical Imagery (electronic ed.) Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, c1998. 2000. p. 450.

A. Principles

1. The discipline of simplicity involves living a life of devotion to God and others in a way that seeks to please and glorify God unencumbered by the things of the world.