I wrote yesterday about the importance of Building Below the Waterline, doing the hard but invisible work of the spiritual disciplines. Last Sunday at Monument Community Presbyterian Church, I had one minute to encourage folks to participate in The Navigators’ Growing Strong in God’s Family. Making the same point as yesterday’s blog, here’s part of what I said:

Paul introduces the armor of God section in Ephesians 6 with these words:

“God is strong, and he wants you strong…” (Ephesians 6.10, MSG)

If you want to get strong physically, you go to the gym and hire a personal trainer. The trainer gives you exercises to do, which, if you do them, will make you stronger.

If you want to get strong spiritually, you join Bob and June and complete Growing Strong in God’s Family. It’s just 11 weeks. It’s not a Bible study. It’s training, and you’ll leave with skills that will serve you for a lifetime.

I’m pleased that we have one (yes, only one) eager participant. I pray that she will become the “foundation of many generations” (see Isaiah 58.12).

It starts with the disciplines…and with discipline. I was just sharing by phone with someone in another state that life cannot be lived without discipline. Here’s a guy who is well-spoken, smart, but can’t stay off of alcohol. I said, “My friend, to get through life, you sometimes have to do things you don’t want to do…like go to AA and reduce your alcohol consumption to zero.”

In conversation with another friend recently, “You’re in the Word every day, right?” “Well, no.”

God is strong, and he wants you strong… (Ephesians 6.10, MSG)

…train yourself for godliness. (1 Timothy 4.7, ESV)

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12.11, ESV)