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I have recently been reading Francis de Sales (1567-1622), specifically his writings on a life of devotion. One of the most convicting insights that Francis has regarding the devotional life is the danger of defining devotion as whatever you like to do and think you do well.

“…Everyone paints devotion according to his own passions and fancies. Someone given to fasting thinks himself very devout if he fasts although his heart may be filled with hatred. Much concerned with sobriety, he doesn’t care to wet his tongue with wine or even water but won’t hesitate to drink deep of neighbor’s blood by detraction and gossip.”

“Another person thinks himself devout because he daily recites a vast number of prayers, but after saying them he utters the most disagreeable, arrogant, and harmful words at home and among the neighbors. Another gladly takes a coin out of his purse and gives it to the poor, but he cannot extract kindness from his heart to forgive his enemies. Another forgives his enemies but never pays his creditors unless compelled to do so by force of law.”

“All these individuals are usually considered to be devout, but they are by no means such… Many persons clothe themselves with certain outward actions connected with holy devotion, and the world believes that they are truly devout and spiritual whereas they are in fact nothing but copies and phantoms of devotion.

Phantoms of devotion. Mere copies. Fakes. Phonies. The ghost and outward form of devotion without any substance.

So often we look down on others for not excelling at the spiritual disciplines that we ourselves undertake. We decide to fast for a time, in order to humbly reflect on God’s work in our lives, but we turn our period of fasting into an occasion for pride and thinking highly of ourselves.

We commit to reading through the Bible in a year, ready and eager to hear the Word of the Lord, but we turn our new commitment into an occasion for pride, gently reminding everyone around us how much Bible we are reading (often masked in terms of, “I just love reading the Bible half an hour every morning!”).

“Genuine, living devotion presupposes love of God, and hence it is simply true love of God,” Francis says. How often have I substituted living devotion and true love of God for the watered down version of disciplining myself for selfish reasons: perhaps to assuage my own guilt, to make myself feel “holy,” or to set myself apart from all the “nominal” Christians who haven’t discovered the disciplines and methods I have.

Francis de Sales reinforces the biblical portrait of the Law. “Anyone who does not observe all God’s commandments cannot be held to be either good or devout.” This reading convicted me of pride and boasting in my spiritual life. I have no reason to boast. I am a transgressor of the Law and even the disciplines I hope to keep, I do not keep as I should. Devotion to Christ without being informed by the gospel of grace is empty ritual.

Devotion is not merely the commitment to a list of religious duties. True devotion is drenched in charity – the ability to do good to all people because of the One who has done good to us.

written by Trevin Wax  © 2008 Kingdom People blog

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