I'm a ministry major, so if you read this blog, even though it's just random thoughts, you'll probably see some ministry stuff. If you want to change your life for the better, go ahead and read it. If you don't like religion or faith, feel free to click away. I won't be offended and it's only your loss.
Many people don't understand faith, even those who profess to have faith in Christ. Frequently, faith is treated as simply a ceremony performed on Sundays that covers you for the week or month or time between visits, and while this might be true for the purpose of salvation (the Christian faith holds that if you believe in Christ as savior, no matter what you've done or what you do, as long as you look to Christ for salvation, you will be saved), it is not the best way to live your life. Even in my relatively comfortable life, the difference from when I treated faith as a ritual to when I actively engaged in my faith in Christ is a night and day difference in how I feel and view the world.
For others, active engagement is a check-box, wherein you devote a half hour to reading the Bible or praying, but it's simply a chore or ritual. While this is probably better than the former, simply going through the motions is frequently insufficient to significantly change your life. While many things are beneficial to spiritual growth, and any involvement is better than none, a ritual is a sorry devotion because it's like punching a clock to get paid. You do it, but it doesn't really seem like something you would want to do, and for good reason. The Bible can be hard to read, especially in more literal translations that leave some grammar and context to an individuals deciphering and research or the genealogy or law chapters (these are indeed worth reading, but can be difficult and painful to go through, especially if going for comprehension or thoroughness). However, while this can bring a degree of spiritual satisfaction, I propose an additional easy supplement to the touted prayer and reading routine: worship.
Worship is defined as to regard with great or extravagant respect, honor, or devotion, but in all practicality it can simply be paying respect to God by saying "This is Your creation, and it is good." There are a myriad of ways to do this, ranging from singing hymns and songs in church, to actively worshiping through music (even listening), or simply acknowledging a greatness about something and ascribing what is good of it to God. While not taking the place of prayer or reading, worship can be just as beneficial in helping your faith grow.
My personal form of worship is listening to music and singing along to the lines of praise. I've found some songs that speak profoundly to me and always remind me of what is important in life, and make an effort to not only listen to these songs, but engage in thinking about what the lines are and what they mean. Everyone can have their own form of worship, and there's no real restriction on what worship can and cannot be (excepting, of course, sin, which is anything that is displeasing to God). Worship is also more than simply an emotional experience or spiritual discipline, but also a precedent- as Christians, we are called to be living temples, meaning that we are to be glorifying to God, and impressive through our actions and words as the temple was through stone and gold. Worship is also doing things that are pleasing to God, and abstinence from sin. Perpetual worship can be as easy as doing what is right to other people because they are to be treated as Christ, and avoiding harm or anything impure or sinful that would displease God.
Understand that I haven't taken any theology classes yet, but from what I've found in my own walk, I hope this will be helpful to you or at the very least that it will not be harmful.
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