The First Discipline – Loving God and His Word
“Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid.” (Proverbs 12:1 NIV) Solomon succinctly brings us to the heart of the issue regarding discipline. We must learn to love it! Not like it….not do it because we have to…..but love it. Let’s be candid….few of us love discipline, because it’s hard work and it doesn’t often make us feel warm and fuzzy. We all know that discipline, particularly internal (self) discipline, is one of the most challenging aspects of our developmental journey. So why should we bother with this mean stepsister of amusement? Why should we submit ourselves to discipline? Perhaps we do so because it can be said with a fair amount of certainty that a leaders influence will not, over time, consistently rise above their ability to discipline themselves. Additionally it might be fair to say that a spiritual leaders influence and impact will not, over time, consistently rise above their discipline of pursuing intimacy with God by engaging with His Word. Simply stated…we cannot teach others to love what we have not first learned to love. This brings us to the question for the moment. How can we learn to love….not like, the Word of God?
Most love stories follow a similar path…..attraction leads to time spent together, growing knowledge about each other leads to growing appreciation, and a growing appreciation gives birth to a desire for intimacy. Duvall and Hays (Duvall & Hays, 2012) suggest that a love affair with God’s Word is a similar journey. These authors spend their early chapters making a case for the value of growing in knowledge and offer some key steps that will lead toward a deepening appreciation of God. Since all relationships involve a bridge building effort to help us understand the context, intent and message of the one we seek to know, the authors use this same analogy to help us better understand our journey with the Word.
Eugene Peterson (Peterson, 2006) invites us into the journey of loving God’s Word with a slightly different analogy. He suggests that in order to truly enjoy the richness of the marrow within the inspired biblical writings we must be willing engage them the way a dog might engage a favorite bone. He proposes, “(Spiritual) Reading is an immense gift, but only if the words are assimilated, taken into the soul - eaten, chewed, gnawed, received in unhurried delight.” Peterson provides an excellent reminder that love for the Word does not grow under the harsh light of hurry. Love requires time and dedicated, we might even say obsessive, attention in order to yield the desired fruit.
Learning to love the Word can involve many styles and structures but these uniqueness’s are built on common foundations. These foundations all share a commitment to time, attention, observation, interpretation and application. It is on these foundations that we begin to build a lifelong legacy of intimacy with the One who wrote the love story we call the Bible. It is on these foundations that we build a spiritual leadership that advances the Kingdom and brings glory to God.
Duvall, J. S., & Hays, J. D. (2012). Grasping God's word : a hands-on approach to reading, interpreting, and applying the Bible (3rd ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Peterson, E. H. (2006). Eat this book : a conversation in the art of spiritual reading. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co.
Dan Scarrow
District Superintendent
North Central District of The C&MA