Review your spiritual disciplines

By Dean Collins

Sometimes we need a review. Not the kind of performance review we might get at work, but rather a self-assessment of sorts. And in this case, an assessment concerning the focus and the outcomes of our prayers

I have written before about the many people and situations that I pray for each morning. And I have shared that each year I choose passages of scripture that I memorize and use as a part of my prayer time. Today I decided to look at the passages of 2023 and 2024 and check myself against another scripture that I read this morning. It is a verse in Deuteronomy that Jesus quoted in the gospels. 

The Pharisees asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was, and he answered:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” And Jesus then added a second command: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

I think it is fair to say that the Pharisees were often evaluating their spirituality against others. And of course, their self-assessment was that they always came out as superior. They believed themselves to be without fault in keeping the commandments and were eager to point out when others failed. The Pharisees asked Jesus which commandment was the most important. Their goal was to somehow trap Jesus with his answer, but it didn’t work. Jesus knew better. He gave the answer they expected as he started but then surprised his questioners by adding the requirement to love one’s neighbors as one loves self.

The Pharisees, while known for their rule keeping, were not particularly known for being loving towards others. They often saw themselves as better than others and seldom seemed to be trying to be kind and loving to those not in their sect.

As I considered the answer Jesus gave about these two important commandments, I began to think about the things I pray for each day. I pray for many people and situations. I also pray for needs I have and the needs of the community where I live and serve. But lately I have found myself feeling frustrated and even angry about the attitudes and language of American politics. And as I consider the level of frustration I experience, I have come to realize that I need to pray more about loving my neighbors, especially those with whom I disagree.

So the question I am wrestling with as I do my review of my scripture memorization and prayer time is this: Am I becoming more loving to others? Have I become more loving to my family? My friends? My coworkers? Even my enemies? 

Reviewing the scriptures I have memorized in the last two years in particular reveals themes that include God’s deliverance, God’s provision, God’s wisdom, along with gratitude, joy, patience, and worry. What I noticed that was missing was any scripture that challenged me or reminded me to love others the way I love myself. Yet both the Old and New Testaments tell us to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and to love others as we love ourselves.

So if I were grading myself, I might give myself an A for the discipline of daily prayer and scripture reading. I might give myself a B for scripture memorization. But I would have to give myself a lower grade on my lack of praying more for people that are not like me, yet whom God loves as much as he loves you and me. And this honest evaluation helps me to realize that in addition to praying more for those I have a hard time loving, I must also pray that God would give me opportunities to spend time with these very people so that I can practice showing them the love of Christ.

Father, today we confess that we sometimes go through the motions of prayer and scripture reading without allowing our time with you to really focus on the areas where we need to change the most. Forgive us for the times we have spoken in ways that are not loving to others. Forgive us for keeping from you the things we need help with the most. We pray that today as we review our spiritual disciplines that you would bring to mind areas in our lives where you want to correct and transform for your glory. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Your Time with God’s Word
Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 22:36-40 ESV

Photo by Emmanuel Phaeton on Unsplash
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