Living the New Life

“We don’t know what God is doing with She Reads Truth, but whatever it is, we want to do it well.”

This has been the heart and intention behind SRT and HRT from the very beginning. Years ago, we sat across the table from our friend and mentor, doing the thing we seemed to do a lot of in those early days: asking our pastors for guidance. To this day, we often repeat the advice Dr. Grant gave us that day, reminding one another: “The greatest threat you pose to this community and the world around you is not in the words you write, but in whether or not you live consecrated lives.”

Consecrated lives—that is our call as followers of Jesus. Whether we are stewarding a friendship or a family, a platform or a classroom, our highest calling is to walk with the Lord and live our lives unto Him. But what does that look like in practice? We didn’t fully understand then, and we don’t fully understand now, but we are learning that Paul’s instruction to “train yourself in godliness” is not a mysterious calling (1Timothy 4:7). In Scripture, we find disciplines our living Lord instructed on and demonstrated that we can follow in becoming more like Him. 

The twenty spiritual disciplines in this study are not exhaustive, and they are not intended to be tackled or mastered all at once. They do not earn us salvation or make God love us more. While we’re tempted to aim for “a better prayer life” or even “a consistent Bible reading habit,” these important practices are just that—practices. They are not an end unto themselves, but rather a means of knowing God and orienting our lives toward Him. Ultimately, they teach us how to abide with Him and remain in His love. And as we do, He trains us in His ways and grows us up to be more like Him, bearing fruit in us that points to His goodness (John 15:4,9; 1Timothy 4:15). 

It would not be an exaggeration to say that out of all the studies our team has offered, this is one of our favorites. As people who desire to live lives consecrated to Christ, to train ourselves in godliness (1Timothy 4:7–8), let’s approach the coming four weeks eager to learn, ready for our toes to be stepped on a bit, and most of all, trusting a Person, not a process. When we learn to attune our hearts to learn from Him, we will find the rest our hearts long for (Matthew 11:29). Jesus has already given us all we need, including this community of people in the Word of God every day (2Peter 1:3). May we be encouraged as we learn together what it looks like to put our faith into practice.