Patterns: Ways to Develop a God-Filled Life

by Mel Lawrenz

A good pattern progressively builds you up. A bad pattern relentlessly erodes your humanity. Patterning is a focused commitment to making a few habits and character traits the normal, the daily, the consistent. All life is built in patterns. Nature has its orderly patterns, from the bee building its honeycomb to the DNA encoded in genes. The Bible offers patterns for living a godly life. There are also patterns in every human life. As children of God, we have the power to choose the patterns we wish to follow. We can build patterns of behavior into our lives that shape our character, form our reputation, and determine our satisfaction in life. 'Anything we do in life with any kind of repetition is a life pattern---whether it builds us up or tears us down,' says author and pastor Mel Lawrenz. 'Being unaware of our life patterns is about the biggest gamble any of us can take.' Patterns looks at two essential sets of biblical patterns that can help you create a God-filled life. First come the building blocks of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Then the book looks at devotion the acts that draw you closer to God, such as prayer, spiritual reading, and worship. You'll see how the different patterns relate to one another, and how you can become more aware of your own life patterns so you can make a conscious choice to develop a richer, more vibrant relationship with God. You'll learn how to practice good life patterns that offer a design for spiritual health and strength, order for spiritual direction, and consistency for an intimate dialogue with God. Patterns challenges you to cultivate habits of life deeply rooted in the love and grace of God. Lawrenz says, 'The idea of patterning is that if we follow the designs God has described in great detail, if we follow those blueprints and keep steady in those rhythms, we will experience life with a fullness and soundness that comes only from God---just like building a home according to the plan of a master architect.' Patterns is a handbook for spiritual development that encourages you to discover the patterns of your own life---and how you can nurture God-inspired life patterns that build and strengthen your Christian faith.

Genres: Faith

192 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2003

Reviews

[Chauncey Lattimer]

Mel Lawrenz' book, Patterns: Ways to Develop a God-filled Life, is one of the better devotional books that I have read.



The book is divided into two major sections: character patterns and devotion patterns. The first half of the book develops the idea of character patterns by fleshing out the gifts of the Spirit. Lawrenz has already reminded the reader that "character is never defined by one or two significant righteous deeds or by one or two failings. The pattern [a key word for Lawrenz] of your life constitutes your character, the shape or the imprint of your life.



The second section deals with devotion patterns - or spiritual formation / transformation. Spiritual formation is defined as "the progressive patterning of a person's inner and outer life according to the image of Christ through intentional means of spiritual growth." He goes on to say that "Patterns or habits of devotion are these intentional means." His reference is to the spiritual disciplines.



Of particular significance are his 'basic principle of interpreting scripture': the simplest and most natural understanding of a biblical passage is always the best; the Bible cannot mean what it never meant; appreciate the figurative language of Scripture for what it means; let scripture interpret scripture; apply the words of Scripture to life by carrying over the principles you discover in the original meaning of the biblical text; and, think of understanding Scripture as understanding a person.



Good job, Mel!

[Kaylie Longley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pastor Mel Lawrenz' book Patterns was birthed from devotional content to his church body. I think this material is best suited for regular reading in its original form. Each chapter provides some depth on the fruits of the Spirit and devotional patterns as tools for character building and spiritual growth. Though I took notes while reading, Patterns quickly became generic, as the info isn't too revolutionary and presented to a wider, non-denominational Christian audience. I did find some gems and appreciate Lawrenz' application of the Spirit's gifts to life patterns. Yet I still breezed right through this book over the course of a few days, never finding truly deep substance. Practically, Patterns encourages application, but due to its lack of longer biblical passages and commentary, this goal was not fulfilled.