SABAH THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

INNER ROOM 21 FEB 2011 ISSUE 1, NO. 5

THE CHAPLAIN’S BULLETIN FOR INTERNAL CIRCULATION ONLY
Spiritual Exercise
What Am I Going to Do With You?
By Samuel Ooi

Talking about spiritual exercise, one step at a time, and a bit at a

there are different kinds of reaction.
Some think of keeping the routine
daily devotion or quiet time; some
with a solemn look keep nodding
their heads; some look rebellious
and disdainfully in heart saying, “Oh,
please.” Some sigh for the down-
sliding and shallowness of todayʼs
spiritual life.
However, one that should really call
for our attention is that those who
had taken it as seriously as been
hurt, whose heart is now filled with
frustration, having lost all the hope
against either of man or of God.
These people may have desired,
envied, strived for spiritual
excellence, to be a man after Godʼs
own heart. Exactly what has made
them stop hoping for a better
spiritual life, lose the passion for
spiritual exercise, and believe not,
now preferring to live what they
define as a simple normal Christian
life.
Have we misunderstood spiritual
exercise? Do we have wrong
expectations? What is/are the
purpose(s) of spiritual exercise?
What benefit can we get? Why there
are often experiences of giving up
half way? Why instead of bringing
good, it becomes destructive?
These are all important questions,
which we may keep asking
throughout our life. Let us take it
time to digest. The fact is, we take on spiritual
exercise because we want to
First of all, spiritual exercise is resist sin, or as the jargon says, to
about Christian spiritual life, a topic be death our self as to our flesh
which once touched on will lead to (we shall talk about all these later).
the whole Christian spirituality and We hope to be able to concentrate
more in our work, more self-
discipline, and stronger when it
comes to resist temptation. We
hope that our temper will be more
under control, that we do not sin
when we feel angry, that we can
resolve every problem and
Spiritual Exercise emotion calmly as we are
misunderstood, and that we will
not freeze our emotion and desire
being for the fear of falling prey to
sin. These are some possible
reasons why we practice spiritual
exercise.
Sometimes, we may be motivated
furthermore into our view of God
by desiring for bigger power and
and of human being, and other
gift, for breakthrough in our ministry,
content of faith and doctrines
or by wanting to be like some
brought down from the past. Let us
pastors or preachers that we know.
not presuppose anything to be
These kinds of disire may reflect
approached systematically but go
insecurity and fear hiding in our
on discuss anything that comes into
heart. But tragic is as much as we
focus.
pursue for spiritual growth, the effort
Letʼs talk about human being. does not lead us into the depth of
Ultimately, spiritual exercise is all our life.
about human being. It is human not
God who needs spiritual exercise. All these pursues and labourings
But some would say that the goal is end up in despair sooner or later. O
to become more like God and more spiritual exercise, what am I going
like Christ. But not as simple as it to do with you?
seems, indeed not. The higher the
To be continued .....
goal is, the harder one falls.

Spiritual Quote
Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary
spiritual problem. The desperate need today is not for a great number of intelligent people, or
gifted people, but for deep people.
Taken from Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth (San Francisco: Harper &
Row, 1978), 1.