Are you fit or flabby? (spiritually that is…)
“How healthy are you spiritually?”
That was the question in Bobby’s sermon from Titus 2 yesterday. People can put a great deal of thought and energy into physical health–dieting and exercise. You might not think that high school students are into health, but I’ve met many girls for meals and they order their cheeseburger “protein style”, so they can skip the carbs. One girl always gets salads but only with the dressing on the side. Another always chooses the 90 calorie “skinny lattes” when we meet at Starbucks. I’m amazed at the dedication some people have to going to the gym–they get up before dark, or won’t end their day till they’ve put in their minimum 30 minutes of sweat and agony. It is sad how we can be so careful to do what it takes to physically train our bodies and then treat our spiritual growth like an afterthought. Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 4:7-8 that
“…Train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.“
There is no debate, godliness is of much greater and lasting value that physical health. But most Christians don’t have a plan for their spiritual health– no spiritual diet, no spiritual workout regimen, no concern for their spiritual calorie intake. They just react to life as it happens and try to do their best to remember to live out the sermons Sunday to Sunday.
Bobby and I use a tool in our ministry called The Spiritual Growth Chart. It has five categories–Bible Reading, Prayer, Meditation, Church Service, Witness. Starting out with where you were last week, you then write out a goal for each category. The chart has four weeks in between to help you pace yourself to be disciplined in those areas. It is meant to be used with your “personal trainer” or “nutritionist”–basically a mentor, someone farther along than you in the faith who will keep you accountable.
I hope you will even consider using The Spiritual Growth Chart for just the next four weeks. Just writing out how you are doing at training yourself to be godly and goals you should be working toward can be clarifying and motivating. Click here to download a PDF you can print to get started! Feel free to personalize it to make it your own. On my chart I’ve added “Bible Study” and “Memorization”–you can customize yours for areas you need to work on.
April 8th, 2008
Christa, This an absolutely fantastic tool! I think I am going to share it with the girls I am speaking to in Illinois this weekend and with my small group from Thrive (giving credit to you, of course). Personally, I like structure and measurable progress. I plan to make up my own chart tonight. You are totally right–I pay far more attention to measuring my physical goals (like training to run a 5K) and not enough time measuring my spiritual progress. Thanks for this post and for sharing your chart! Mike and I could learn a lot from you and Bobby.
April 9th, 2008
Ryan and I have always made measurable spiritual goals each year, and we revisit them throughout the year to measure our progress. I like the clarification of categories that you present in your spreadsheet. It will be fun for us to adopt some of the tools you present here with our goals we make next year!
April 9th, 2008
Hi Christa!
This spreadsheet is so great! I’d made a small version when our Thrive Women’s accountability group started up. It’s just a daily check off sheet that helps me do my daily Bible reading, my Bible study and any extracurricular Biblical reading (like, The Excellent Wife)! This is a much more through form! I love it! Thanks for sharing!
April 9th, 2008
Another awesome Compass tool is the Prayer Journals distributed at WBS! They are awesome
It’s a helpful tool guide to how we can pray daily and specifically! To each day, I added a page to the front where I pray for particular people, for their request and leave a column for the praise/answer. It helps me to keep track of our Thrive requests, WBS requests, Care team requests, and my own daily prayer sheet for my family! I’m all about forms and documents! I really like this new PDF! Thanks again for sharing!