The dangers of overemphasizing the importance of personal devotions in one’s spiritual walk with Jesus Christ

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

This pandemic has given me the time rethink many things in my life with this question: Why do I do the things that I do? So, I focused on what I think is the most important aspect of my life right now – my relationship with God.

In this post I will try to explain the dangers of “overemphasizing” the importance of personal devotions in one’s spiritual walk.

A little background about me:

• I am a Born Again Christian attending a small church under a widely popular discipleship system.
• I lead a small group of young men.
• I’ve been doing daily devotions for as long as I can remember. I even teach new believers how to study the Word of God and begin their spiritual journey with Him.

I remember when I was starting out I was introduced to doing devotions wherein you would spend time to study God’s Word and apply what you’ve learned in your life.

It was simple, you would read a passage from the Bible and understand what it means and receive the lessons and corrections that you would have to apply afterwards.

Now, after years of being a Christian I realize the harmful effects of overemphasizing the importance of devotions. I’ve seen its effects in my life and I don’t want others to experience the same things because these would have a negative impact on your relationship with God.

Devotionals or studying God’s Word is one of the spiritual disciplines a Christian should practice aside from worship, prayer, ministry, and being a part of God’s community. It is fundamental because by studying God’s Word we get to know God on a personal level. We discover His character as well as His promises. When we study the Bible it allows us to understand spiritual concepts which are important in our spiritual life.

I have experienced the benefits of studying God’s Word but I realize that when there is a system involved, although the goal is spiritual growth,  it can do more harm than good.

New believers are taught to start doing devotionals. To encourage them, leaders would challenge them to complete their devotionals in one week. If they’re successful they would be given a treat (this would depend on the leader but this was also encouraged back then). This may sound exciting, an approach that would really jump-start a new believer’s walk with Christ. But this approach creates a negating mindset to a new believer: “If I do this then I will be rewarded.” It’s harmless at first but when the idea (reward system) is practiced on other spiritual disciplines it can snowball into something more dangerous over time, then it becomes a problem.

In the past our leader would check our daily devotions to see if we are consistently doing it. To avoid being scolded (because I still struggle being consistent before) I would do a week’s worth of my devotion in one seating (and yeah, I’m not proud of it). I know it’s ridiculous. But because I don’t want the embarrassment I resorted to “technically” cheating. I’d end up feeling good about myself because I “faked” completed a week of my devotion. I should’ve seen this as a red flag. This created a pattern of thinking. Eventually, I’ve started looking at doing my personal devotions as a task – something that needed to be crossed off my to-do list. There were times that I’d do it just for the sake of doing it. There were weeks where all I did was just passively read the Bible hoping to write something "inspiring" on my devotional notebook. It became a burden to me – a Christian’s daily requirement so to speak.

But then after a while I realized that I was only fooling myself.

So one time I came clean. During our small group gathering, when our devotions were being checked, I told my leader that I was not consistent with my devotions. He told me maybe because of it that I was unfruitful. He coined the term “tough love” to justify his point. I understood the correction but I was heartbroken. I knew I deserved to be reprimanded. But looking back I realize I should’ve been heartbroken because I missed a week of quality time with God. I missed my daily communion with God which was important for my relationship with Him to grow and flourish. I missed the point of doing my devotion. Instead, I got hurt because I focused on the relationship of my inconsistency with my lack of initiative to win people. That’s where the problem is.

I think we have put so much weight in doing our devotions that it has become counterproductive to our spiritual growth as Christians. I know it is one of the "basics" in our relationship with Jesus – that we can study God’s Word and grow in our wisdom and understanding of Him and His Word. But I have observed Christians putting so much emphasis on it. That it has become destructive rather than beneficial.

And so I’ve been trying my best to change how I see my devotions. That is should not be superior to any of the other spiritual disciplines I still struggle with. That our spiritual growth should be holistic and not focused on only one aspect. That a life transformed by God’s power and Word is not only the result of our devotions, but a life of worship, prayer, faithful interpretation of God’s Word, ministry and community with other believers.

I firmly believe that as Christians we need to change our view on what devotion is and should be. It should not be the only indicator of one’s level of relationship with Jesus Christ. It should not be a task or a burden so heavy that you’d do it for the sake of doing it. It should not be a measure used to compare yourself with other believers.

Rather, doing devotions should be an exciting and a life-giving experience. It should allow us to study and interpret God’s Word faithfully. Doing it should not require any form of rewards because God’s presence and the wisdom we receive from studying His Word is the only reward we truly need.

P.S.: I am writing this to remind myself of the purpose of my daily devotion in my life (not only spiritually). I hope that if you have experienced the same things I did or If you felt or still feel the same way about devotion, I pray that you will find the joy of falling in love with God’s Word daily not because you’re required to but because as Christians it is one of our lifelines.