I’ve decided on some benchmarks that I think moving into deeper Christian living should contain:
- getting away from prayer lists and focusing in on intensive prayer for God to something specific for an individual in a unique situation;
- getting away from “promise box theology” and reading entire chapters or even 3-4 chapters at a time;
- getting away from devotionals that begin with quick stories, and instead considering a topic or an idea and thinking about how that would play out in the life story of someone you know;
- being consciously aware of ways for improvement in terms of manifesting the fruit of the Spirit;
- being aware of things that are sin even though you didn’t consider them sin a few months earlier;
- becoming genuinely excited about evangelism both in terms of personal involvement and hearing stories where “it’s working;”
- finding yourself more deeply part of the picture as you read a New Testament narrative;
- understanding your own brokenness and the brokenness of others, and how it draws us closer to God;
- increasingly becoming an agent of grace and being drawn to others who are
- feeling more and more “at home” with both personal Bible study and spending time in God’s house.
I’ve left many other possibilities out, I’m sure. Feel free to add to this list in the comments.
Christianity 201 