Our lack of holiness can be very frustrating. We have the desire to be holy and to be Christlike but we struggle with our disordered desires for pleasure. Our culture provides many opportunities to satisfy our sensuality. As the passage below from Titus teaches, we have grace from God to reject worldliness and to be self-controlled.
Below is an exercise to help us receive God’s grace and to activate our will. It follows the general format of lectio divina. Do part or all of it and change it as you desire.
For the complete guide go here.
Purification Exercise:
Read twice: Titus 2:11-14 (ESV): “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”
Meditate. Put your name in the passage above and read it through again. How does this affect you? Reflect on the passage. How does it speak to you? Is God saying anything? Do you feel convicted about something? What do you want to purify?
Prayer and Listening
1. “God, what is there in my life that needs to be purified? Eliminated?”
2. Wait and listen. If you don’t hear anything then pick an area of your life you would like to purify, some attachment that is out of order, or weakness you want to work on.
3. “Why has the attachment or impurity or weakness been there?”
4. “Why is it difficult to detach or make progress?”
5. “How is my past hindering me?”
6. “What are my false beliefs?”
7. “What is the truth?”
8. “How are emotions misleading me?”
9. “What are the healthy emotions for this situation?”
10. “Do I really want to get rid of it?”
11. If not, why not? What am I afraid of? Will it really hurt that much? Will I be better in the long run if I do?
Pray: “I want to get rid of it and I am open to you doing it and I want to commit to it.” Then tell God what you need from him. Ask for guidance how to do your part; wait and listen. If nothing comes right away, just be open to anything that might come later.
12. Choose steps you will take. If you don’t hear anything specific from God just choose steps that seem wise.
Decide to follow through then tell God: “These are the steps I will take…”
13. Write down specific time and day plans to accomplish the steps. E.g., find a counselor, meditate on scripture, eliminate connections, prayer, prayer from a friend(s), wait on the Spirit.
It might help to substitute something good and pleasureable in the place of what your are getting rid of!
Contemplation. Spend time just being still, letting all this sink in, and being with God even if you don’t feel him.
1. Ask God to show you more about this issue. To calm your mind, slowly repeat a word like “grace” or “holiness” but don’t focus on it. Just be still as you let the word play inside you.
2. If your mind starts to relax let go of the word.
3. Just be with God, even if you don’t sense Him, and absorb anything that comes from God.
Connection with scripture:
Reading and meditating on scripture is clearly recommended in the Psalms.
Prayer and listening. The Psalms also exemplify requests to God for examination of oneself. See Psalms 139:23-24. With respect to attachments, they are the same as harmful desires that we are warned against in the New Testament, e.g. I John 2:16. False beliefs are beliefs that contradict scripture.
Contemplation. In the general sense contemplation is viewing something with continued attention. In the Christian sense it is the term given to the idea of beholding God or Jesus found in the following verses (as well as others): I Cor. 13:12 (“now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face”); II Cor. 3:18 (“we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed”); Heb. 12:2 (“fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (NIV)); and Rev. 22:4 (“They will see his face”). In other words it is fixing our attention on God or Jesus or by extension, whatever comes from them.
I hope this is helpful. Let me know if you have any feedback!
