Spiritual Disciplines

This is probably one of the few things that can be turned into the Benjamin Franklin style checklist. For me at least, the best way to think about all of the disciplines is to simply list them, with a small description following each discipline.

There are two broad categories of disciplines. The Disciplines of Abstinence are centered around the question "What am I currently doing, that if I eliminated, would put me in the path of God?" and the Disciplines of Engagement around the question "What am I currently not doing, that if I were doing, would put me in the path of God?"

Disciplines of Abstinence
Solitude: The practice of spending time without any others or any distractions.
Silence: No noise or conversation. Just you and God.
Fasting: Abstain from food, media, entertainment, or anything else that occupies your time.
Frugality: Use your money for purposes outside your own needs for a time.
Chastity: Refers to both physical "purity" (virginity) and moral purity.
Secrecy: Do not allow anyone to know of the deeds you do or the money you give in order to avoid doing them for the wrong motivations. Only God needs to know.
Sacrifice: Stretch your sense of what you can do without for the sake of those who have less.
Self-Control: Controlling feelings, thoughts, and desires and shaping them to honor God.

Disciplines of Engagement
Study: Memorize Scripture and expand your universe of biblical study helps.
Worship: Engage in corporate worship and include worship in your own prayer time.
Celebration: Practice being grateful and thankful both in your own relationship with Christ and with other believers. Express encouragement and thankfulness to others.
Service: Give your time to the church and/or to others. Ponder tithing your time.
Prayer: Take deliberate steps to pray regularly and with purpose. Praying through the Psalms is a good way to increase your “prayer vocabulary.”
Fellowship: Hebrews 10:25, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Confession: Practice confessing your sins to trusted people who will pray with you and be spiritual allies.
Submission: Submit to the proper people in the proper ways—fight against the sin of pride.
Guidance: Seeking counsel, wisdom, and encouragement from a discipler/mentor.
Humility: Seeking to put others first, and being humble in all we do.
Meditation: Constantly thinking about, pondering, and praying over the Word of God as you go about your day.
Reflection: Carefully consider and think about what God is teaching you.
Servanthood: Serving others with my daily life, without expecting anything in return.

These were compiled from many different sources, some of which are online, some of which aren't. I'm going to spend some more time thinking about what each of these means practically in my daily life, and how to best carry it out.

One interesting thing that I read was that we should consider tithing our time as well as our money. If I gave God 2.4 hours of my day, every day, what would that look like?