Spiritual Practice

“Be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” 1 Timothy 4:12.

The highest aim we can pursue in this world is to learn to love. Life offers countless opportunities to learn this. Every day brings many such opportunities. The world is not a playground, but a schoolroom. Life is not a holiday, but an education. And the one eternal lesson for us all is how we can better love. What makes a man a good cricketer? Practice. What makes a man a good artist, a good sculptor, a good musician? Practice. All must practice if they are to make progress.

Likewise, to become loving, one must practice. Without practice, it cannot be done. There is no special capricious law that governs religion. We do not shape the soul differently, under different laws, from those in which we shape the body and the mind. If a man does not exercise his arm, he will not develop bicep muscles; and if a man does not exercise his soul, he will not acquire any spiritual muscle, no strength of character, no vigour of moral fiber or beauty of spiritual growth. Love is not a burst of enthusiastic emotion. It is the full, strong, manly, vigorous expression of a fully developed Christian character—a character like Christ’s own nature. And such a character is gained only by ceaseless practice.