Spiritual disciplines are an extremely important part of the life of any believer. It is the time spent on the part of the believer deepening and growing their faith and their understanding of who Jesus is and who they are as individuals. Spiritual disciplines like Bible reading, meditation, quiet time, prayer, journaling, and fellowship with other believers all aid in the sanctification of believers. It is no different for children, youth, or adults alike. One of the students in LifeWay Youth has been a great example of faithfulness to grow in her faith. Knowing how seriously she takes her own spiritual disciplines, I thought it would be helpful and encouraging for the church family to hear from her and her experience over the past several months. — Kevin P
TESTIMONY:
How scripture can change us
by Ashley Lowy
I think it’s fair to say that this year has been anything but expected. The downs have unfortunately been a lot more tumultuous than the ups, and speaking for myself, it’s not only been a confusing time but also a little lonely. However, one of the things I would always look forward to during the week was meeting with Rachel, my youth group leader/mentor/friend. We had begun meeting regularly in October, each agreeing to meet with the goal of reading and discussing a chapter of the Bible each week. We started with Mark and then moved on to the book of Acts. The book of Acts has 28 chapters total, which is slightly more than the 16 chapters that make up Mark.
In addition, Acts is presumably written by Luke and told mostly from a first-person point of view. Acts is also different from Mark in the fact that it talks less about Jesus’ miracles and ministry and more about the apostles’ work—specifically Paul, formerly known as Saul. It’s a very interesting and well-known Bible story that I’ve heard plenty of times before, but what I loved most about Acts, and specifically reading about Saul-turned-Paul’s story, was his testimony.
For a long time I struggled with the idea that somehow my testimony wasn’t as great as other people’s because my story wasn’t as exciting. I grew up in the church and I grew up learning many of the common Bible stories. Later, when I became more conscious of my faith, it wasn’t much of a struggle for me to make the decision to get baptized, fully knowing that I wanted Jesus to be the main focus of my life. However, I would still find myself comparing my life experiences to others I knew who had seemingly “cooler” stories when it came to their testimonies.
But the funny thing about Acts is, even though Paul’s testimony is one of the more famous ones in the Bible, I was drawn to it—and this time it wasn’t in a self-deprecating way; it was in a way of appreciation. I began to appreciate my own testament of faith and my own journey through faith. I began to realize that there was no way my testimony could ever be considered “lame” because God was already in the story. Even though coming to Jesus was an easy no-brainer decision in my life, it wasn’t until reading Acts that I began to accept my own testimony for what it was.
So maybe it’s true, my testimony won’t be written down in books and inspire millions. But maybe it doesn’t need to. Maybe the only person my testimony is supposed to inspire is myself—and you know what? I’m perfectly OK with that, because as the gospel of Romans so simply put it, “If God is for us, then who can be against us?”