Swiping Away Negativity: Embracing Spiritual Discipline
Summary
In my sermon, I discussed the importance of spiritual discipline and the need to eliminate negative influences in our lives. Drawing from the historical context of First Timothy, I emphasized the challenges faced by the early church, including false teachings and the role of women in ministry. I likened these challenges to "apps" running in the background of our lives, draining our energy and distracting us from our spiritual growth. I urged the congregation to "swipe up" and close these apps, focusing instead on training ourselves to be godly. I also stressed the importance of faith as a muscle that needs to be exercised and nurtured, and that every obstacle we face contributes to our faith's growth. Finally, I introduced the concept of spiritual "apps" that we should keep open in our lives, such as prayer, gratitude, and kindness.
Key takeaways:
- We need to eliminate negative influences in our lives, likened to "apps" running in the background, draining our energy and distracting us from our spiritual growth [ 07:00]
- Training for godliness is more important than physical training, promising benefits in this life and the life to come [ 10:25]
- Faith is like a muscle that needs to be exercised and nurtured, and every obstacle we face contributes to our faith's growth [ 13:25]
- We should keep spiritual "apps" open in our lives, such as prayer, gratitude, and kindness [ 16:30]
- It's not about perfection, it's about progress in our spiritual journey [ 15:43]
Study Guide
Bible Reading:
1. 1 Timothy 4:7-8 #!!07:53!!#
Observation Questions:
1. What are the two types of training mentioned in 1 Timothy 4:7-8?
2. What does the passage say about the benefits of godliness?
Interpretation Questions:
1. What does it mean to "train yourself to be godly" as mentioned in 1 Timothy 4:7-8?
2. How does the passage differentiate between physical training and training for godliness?
Application Questions:
1. What are some "apps" or distractions in your life that might be draining your spiritual vitality? How can you "swipe up" and get rid of these distractions?
2. How can you incorporate the practice of having a conversation with God into your daily routine?
3. What is one specific way you can exercise your faith this week to help it grow stronger?
4. Can you identify a recent obstacle or setback that has contributed to the growth of your faith? How did it do so?
5. What is one "app of kindness" you can open in your life this week? How will you do it?
Devotional
Day 1: Cultivating Daily Spiritual Habits
Spiritual disciplines are daily habits that help us grow in our relationship with God. They are not about perfection, but about progress. These habits, such as prayer, reading the Bible, and practicing gratitude, are like apps that give us life rather than drain us. They help us to focus on God and keep our spiritual life charged and vibrant ([15:43]).
1 Timothy 4:7-8 - "Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly. Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come."
Reflection: What is one spiritual discipline you can commit to practicing daily for the next 30 days?
Day 2: Identifying and Eliminating Spiritual Drains
Negative emotions and experiences, such as anger, envy, jealousy, betrayal, and trauma, can act like apps running in the background of our lives, draining our spiritual vitality. It's important to identify these drains and, like swiping away apps on a phone, eliminate them from our lives to conserve our spiritual energy ([05:20]).
Ephesians 4:31 - "Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice."
Reflection: What negative emotions or experiences are draining your spiritual energy, and how can you begin to eliminate them?
Day 3: Growing Your Faith
Faith is like a muscle; it needs to be exercised and nurtured to grow strong. Every challenge, setback, and betrayal we face can contribute to our faith's growth. If our faith isn't growing, it's going stagnant. By incorporating spiritual disciplines into our lives, we can ensure our faith continues to grow and flourish ([11:51]).
James 1:2-4 - "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
Reflection: How can you view your current challenges as opportunities for your faith to grow?
Day 4: The Importance of Godliness
Godliness, or living a life that reflects the character of God, is more important than physical training. It promises benefits in this life and the life to come. By focusing on training ourselves to be like Jesus, we can live a life of godliness ([10:25]).
2 Peter 1:5-7 - "For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love."
Reflection: What is one way you can train yourself to be more like Jesus this week?
Day 5: Replacing Negative with Positive
When we eliminate the negative aspects of our lives that drain us, we must replace them with positive ones that empower us. This could be replacing anger with forgiveness, envy with contentment, or betrayal with trust. By doing so, we can supercharge our spiritual lives ([07:00]).
Romans 12:21 - "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."
Reflection: What is one negative aspect of your life you can replace with a positive one this week?
Quotes
1. "Remember it's not about perfection, it's about progress. Now that you swiped up and got rid of all the madness, time to open up first and foremost the first app and I want you to keep this app open. Thank you, Holy Spirit. Let it run in the background, no swipe up. Let it stay there because you'll find out unlike other apps, it's not draining you, it's giving you life." - 15:07
2. "Consider that the reason I'm sluggish, the reason I'm tired, the reason I feel like I'm not getting the traction that I should be because I have apps running in the background of my life draining me constantly refreshing. Some of y'all ain't caught where I'm going with this. You know the app of anger, envy, jealousy, betrayal, identity issues, self-worth, trauma, all of these apps are running in the background draining my vitality, draining my energy and putting me in a position where I don't want to do anything." - 04:34
3. "Your faith isn't growing, it's going. Faith is like a muscle, it has to be exercised, has to be nurtured in order to be able to grow strong. You don't grow your muscles without tension. Your muscles don't develop unless they go through something that they didn't believe that they could get through. Because if you leave your muscles unattended, they begin to weaken and fade. But the good news is that your faith can flourish, become unshakable when you have the right habits." - 11:42
4. "Everything that you're going through that you don't like contributes to your faith growing. Every obstacle that you are enduring contributes to your faith growing. Every setback that you find yourself in contributes to your faith growing. Every betrayal contributes to your faith growing. Because if it's not growing, it's going somewhere and that somewhere is outside of the realm of where God wants you to be." - 11:42
5. "Don't waste your time arguing over Godless ideas, old wives' tales. Swipe up. Get rid of those apps that are running in the background of your life that's draining you and keeping you from being everything God wanted you to be. So in verse number eight, y'all, physical training is good but training for godliness is much better. I'm going to show you how to do that in a moment, promising benefits in this life and the life to come." - 08:23
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