Dallas Willard Daily Devotional, June 27, 2020

Click to view this email in your browser.

Submitting the body to righteousness The "practice" that prepares us for righteous living includes not only putting our body through the motions of actions directly commanded by our Lord. It also involves engaging in whatever other activities may prepare us to carry out his commands—and not just carry them out, but carry them out with strength, effectiveness, and joy. And this is where the standard, well-recognized spiritual disciplines become involved. These disciplines constitute the indirect, yet vitally necessary submission of our body and its members to righteousness. How? I submit my tongue as an instrument of righteousness when I make it bless them that curse me and pray for them who persecute me, even though it "automatically" tends to strike and wound those who have wounded me. I submit my legs to God as instruments of righteousness when I engage them in physical labor as service, perhaps carrying a burden the "second mile" for someone whom I would rather let my legs kick. I submit my body to righteousness when I do my good deeds without letting them be known, though my whole frame cries out to strut and crow. And when I do, I offer up my body as the place of God's action in me just as Abraham prepared the sacrifice in Genesis 15 and would have no fire touch it but what God himself sent. From The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives. Copyright © 1988 by Dallas Willard. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers. Forward this email to your friends, or invite them to subscribe to receive the Dallas Willard Daily Devotional.

Bible Gateway Recommendations

Buy Now Knowing Christ Today: Why We Can Trust Spiritual Knowledge Retail: $15.99 Our Price: $11.99 Save: $4.00

Copyright Information   Copyright 2016 © HarperOne. Drawn from the works of Dallas Willard. Used by permission. Subscription Information   This email was sent to mucomacamucomaca.muco@blogger.com by Bible Gateway, 3900 Sparks Drive SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546 USA. This email is part of a devotional or newsletter that you signed up for on BibleGateway.com. If you have questions or comments about this email, please contact us.   Manage all Bible Gateway subscriptions — Opt Out of all Bible Gateway communication