Here is a quick question for you to think about today. Is there such a thing as “Christian Maintenance?” Do we maintain our Christianity? Notice I didn’t say “maintain our salvation” because I know I don’t maintain my salvation … God does. But what about maintaining my spiritual growth?
I preached this past Sunday about what a Christian should do to maintain his or her spiritual health. We maintain lots of things in our lives … our cars, our homes, our bodies, and our minds, just to name a few. If we don’t maintain those things they quit working or quit growing.
So, what about our Christian lives? Here’s a list of a few things to help with maintenance…
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Bible Study – daily reading from God’s word. It teaches us love.
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Prayer – daily communication with God. It teaches us dependancy.
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Accountability – through a support group or Christian friend.
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Church – one of the main ways God strengthens and builds us up.
I don’t know about you, but my tank gets empty really quick. I need refilled or “maintained” on a regular basis. Out of the four things mentioned above, we tend to overlook accountability more than the others. Why is that?
So, do you think we need to spiritually maintain? How do we do it? And, what did I leave off my list that should be there that would help us? Any thoughts? Leave me a comment and let me know.
I am a Christian husband and father, who moonlights as the minister for the church of Christ in Childress, Texas. My wife Lea and I have been married for 23 years. We are doing our best to raise our 4 boys, who are all growing up way too fast.
Ok, still loving your blog. You have stretched your writing muscles and I think that it is time for a book.
Now for the maintenance: I agree that the accountability is the most overlooked. Any thoughts on starting a group?
Mon … I’m a 98 pound weakling when it comes to writing, but I am good at repeating things I preach. ha
As for accountability, I think you need to look for 2 or 3 things in an accountability group or partner.
1 – You have to trust them. You don’t need someone what’s going to repeat in public what you’ve told them in private.
2 – They’ve got to be willing to understand the qualifications of the job. You want to be held accountable, not let off the hook for something you needed to do.
3 – You can have more than one. My wife is excellent at holding me to my word when I ask her to do so, but my friend who also serves as an accountability partner understands things from a “man’s” perspective sometimes.
4 – Also, I don’t think Jesus needed someone to hold him accountable to things, but I do think Jesus had that same kind of support group. There were the 12, but he had Peter, James and John as his close friends and support group.
Just a thought