Everybody knows “practice makes perfect,” right? While I was unable to find the derivative of this phrase, I thought it sounded like one of Benjamin Franklin's pragmatic sayings. Pragmatic? yes. But is it spiritual? Yes, in fact, PRACTICE is, explicitly, a principle of spiritual growth.
Hebrews 5:14: “…solid food is for the mature [a word often translated “perfect”], who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”
And there you have it right from the author of Hebrews: PRACTICE makes PERFECT.
There are two operations of this principle. First, the more you say no to the practice of sin, the more you are inclined to say no. Not in human effort, but in dependence on Holy Spirit. Then, in the same manner, we develop habits of holiness by applying the truth to every situation: “Keep putting into practice all you learned from me and heard from me and saw me doing…” (Philippians 4:9 NLT)
There is even a promise from Peter that if you keep practicing, you will never stumble (See 2 Peter 1:11). (See 2 Peter 1: 5-7 for a list of things you should practice!)
Have you grown tired of practicing? Maybe you feel like giving up. Sometimes, the changes tend to be so gradual that you don’t realize how much you’ve improved. Perhaps today, as you read this, you realize it’s been so long since you “exercised” that you are "out of practice."
“Let us not become weary in doing good [practicing], for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up [if we do not stop practicing]” (Galatians 6:9).
Greg,
ReplyDeleteIn one of the business seminars I attended I was introduced to a book by Jeff Olson, a man who has developed over 200 millionaires. In his book, "The Slight Edge", he spoke of the same principle of "practice makes perfect" but just giving it a different name, "The Slight Edge."
He speaks of people making right choices in their life on a consistent basis, year after year, even when it doesn't appear to make a difference in their life now. But because they have made a commitment from the heart to do the right thing at some point in their journey the difference starts to make its presence known and their become a geometric progression of success that rewards them for their consistency.
The same principle works against you as well if wrong choices are made, consistenly, over an extended period of time. And the same phenomenon of geometric progression will lead to quick and ultimate failure in life. The deceptive part about this is that wrong choices don't always have an impacting and immediate negative result.
This "Slight Edge" principle is also known as the Law of Sowing and Reaping. However one knows its name it works either for you or against you in every area of your life. "God is not mocked...!"
Stan