This week’s book of the week is Donald S. Whitney’s Simplify Your Spiritual Life. I first read Dr. Whitney’s book on spiritual disciplines in seminary, and he has one of the most helpful and practical voices to helping people grow spiritually. In a chaotic world, he wrote this volume to give many bite-size chapters on how to simplify your spiritual life. Lots of good stuff!
Top 5 Lines:
- “All aspects of externalized spirituality — serving people’s needs, doing good works, taking the gospel to the spiritually lost, working in church ministries — expend the reserves of both body and soul. There’s a problem, though, when the inflow of spiritual renewal doesn’t replenish the outflow of spiritual ministry” (16).
- “In our relationships, finances, use of time, priorities, parenting, simplifying, and everything else, we should more quickly ask, ‘What does the Bible say about this?…Nothing will simplify our lives more than finding the will of God on a matter and doing it” (50).
- “When you encounter Scripture, search for at least one application of it. For example, when reading God’s Word, say to yourself, ‘I won’t close my Bible until I can prayerfully think of at least one way to apply what I’ve read'” (69).
- “Prayers without variety eventually become words without meaning” (78).
- “Tomorrow morning, I don’t have to decide if I’m going to read God’s Word and spend time in prayer to Him. Meeting with the Lord is a discipline long-rooted in my morning routines, and my commitment to it simplifies my spirituality. It’s one less decision I have to make, one more spiritual priority well woven into the fabric of my daily life” (144).
So what about you? Which one of these lines resonates with you?
Travis Agnew serves as the Lead Pastor of Rocky Creek Church in Greenville, SC. His most recent book is Just (About) Married.
Excellent choice. One of the most influential books I've
Excellent choice. One of the most influential books I've read.