Geloof is oor eeue heen ingeperk tot net ’n sekere deel van ons lewe.
Ons sal bv. praat van ons “geestelike lewe” of “geestelike musiek”… Ons ontwaak al meer vir die gedagte dat geloof ten diepste ’n identiteit is wat beliggam word deur ’n holistiese leefstyl wat elke deel van jou lewe beïnvloed.
Ons word al meer gevorm deur die Joodse idee van dissipelskap, teenoor die Griekse idee van leerlingskap, dat wanneer dit by spiritualiteit kom: You can’t think yourself into a new way of being, you rather act yourself into a new way of being.
Hierdie in-groei in ’n nuwe identiteit en leefstyl kom nie vanself nie — dit vra ’n intensionele reis van integrasie en in-oefen.
James Smith skryf:
Our wants and longings and desires are at the core of our identity, the wellspring from which our actions and behavior flow. Our wants reverberate from our heart, the epicenter of the human person. Thus Scripture counsels, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Prov. 4:23).
Discipleship, we might say, is a way to curate your heart, to be attentive to and intentional about what you love. So discipleship is more a matter of hungering and thirsting than of knowing and believing. Jesus’s command to follow him is a command to align our loves and longings with his—to want what God wants, to desire what God desires, to hunger and thirst after God and crave a world where he is all in all—a vision encapsulated by the shorthand “the kingdom of God.”
Hierdie “align our loves” word gekweek deur intensionele geloofsgewoontes te beoefen. Ons nooi jou dus om gerus na hierdie gallery van geloofsgewoontes te kyk of om ’n boek soos “Spiritual disciplines handbook – practices that transform us” van Adele Calhoun of Richard Foster se “Celebration of discipline” aan te skaf en dalk saam met iemand begin oefen want ons weet mos dat saam oefen soveel beter is.