Discipline
First, prepare your heart.
“The unprepared heart cannot see the outstretched hand of Grace.”
A Liturgy of Love
During a pandemic, washing your hands is a spiritual act of love.
As the world tries to deal with the COVID-19 coronavirus, I’m reminded of this liturgy of love. Love (agape) is a willful love. It’s charitable love—caritas. This is the love Jesus calls us to practice when we’re commanded to:
Love ourselves
Love one another
Love our neighbor
Love our enemies.
Agape love is the way of God’s kingdom.
What is this liturgy I am reminded of?
It’s the spiritual practice of washing our hands.
Whenever we wash our hands to rid them of bacteria and viruses, we are participating in an act of love that resists the spread of illness, even death. It can have a multiplying effect that saves family, friend, and foe alike.
So, when you wash your hands, see this time as a liturgy of love. And pray an extended prayer as you wash for an extended time. In this sacred act, you will be giving a gift of love to the whole world.
Three Holy Habits
Tune in, enter in, and join in. Three habits for spiritual formation.
The life of a Jesus follower can be difficult and demanding, but it’s not so hard to describe. Consider these three holy habits—called holy because they define a life that is set apart to God: Tune in, Enter in, and Join in.
Tune in — Concentrate
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Fix your eyes on Jesus. Proclaim the greatness of the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together! The Lord has done great things for us. We are glad.”
The world distracts and our hearts are prone to wander. In the busyness of life, we need to develop a habit of seeing—focusing our attention on God who is sovereign over us and over all things. We grow in our awareness that we live life before God’s face.
Enter in — Immigrate
God is inviting us in. “Enter my kingdom!” “Become part of my family!” In God’s kingdom, all things are made new. We’re given a new identity and we are made part of a new culture. Over a lifetime, we need to figure out what that means. And then adapt. We should live with an ever-fading accent. God’s kingdom is becoming more normal, less foreign in our lives.
Join in — Participate
As we grow into our new identity and culture, we are to become participants in Kingdom activity. We learn to see what God is doing to love and pursue others, then join in as his ambassadors. God’s work of redemption and restoration must become our work too, by his grace and through the power of the Spirit.
- love
- Holy Spirit
- humility
- church
- politics & society
- mission & witness
- holiness
- parable & metaphor
- identity
- eternal life
- doubt & deconstruction
- leadership
- grace
- justice
- scripture
- spiritual life
- advent & christmas
- poverty & compassion
- imagination & creativity
- technology & ai
- knowing God
- human dignity
- faith & trust
- incarnation & cross
- kingdom of God
- community
- reconciliation
- spiritual formation
- epistemology
- prayer
- gratitude
- culture
- creation & nature
- discipleship
The God of the Bible looks like Jesus, the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being. It would be just like him to go to the cross.