Practicing Daily Discipleship
- Virginia Roth
- 10 minutes ago
- 4 min read
What does it look like to be a daily disciple and practice what you preach?
by Virginia Roth
Faith requires activity. In both the small and significant moments, faith becomes active when we simply start practicing our beliefs.
The Christian life is a constant struggle between belief and action. We often have a hard time doing what we know is right. Though we long to live faithfully, we often fail to do so. Only in Christ do we find the desire, strength, and ability to become who God calls us to be.
For Sabrina Little, this question arose during her time in a TFI Fellows Program: “How do we change our heart’s desires and act as we ought?” She found the answer from the soles of her running shoes.
Sabrina Little, a 2010 Capital Fellows alumna, is an ultramarathon runner, ethics professor, and author of the book, The Examined Run. Throughout her journey—from Fellow to professor—she has learned that the "race of faith" is indeed a lot like running. Spiritual growth requires daily discipline, taking one step at a time.
Sabrina has always been a runner, but during her freshman year of college, while her mother was in remission from cancer, she chose to run a 100-mile fundraiser for the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition. That experience led her to fall more in love with trail running and ultrarunning. Athletics has helped Sabrina understand what it means to participate in her sanctification by stewarding her gifts well through disciplined practice. The believer’s role in sanctification—the process of becoming more like Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit—requires living according to God’s Word, seeking His guidance, and resisting sin. These practices refine our character, strengthen virtues, and draw believers closer to Christ.
Though initially drawn to the Fellows program for its seminary classes, Sabrina gained more than theoretical knowledge about faith. Through relationships with mentors like Dr. Steve Garber, author of Visions of Vocation: Common Grace for the Common Good, and Old Testament professor and dean of students at Reformed Theological Seminary, Rev. Dr. Bill Fullilove, Sabrina learned the practice of a disciplined and humble “daily theology.” Her mentors’ way of life and speaking about their faith left a lasting impression.
Sabrina explained, “Both Dr. Garber and Dr. Fullilove intentionally talked about their daily walk with God. Dr. Fullilove challenged us to prioritize our days well and Dr. Garber had us ask how our faith should inform how we think about social issues. It’s easy to reduce faith to an intellectual exercise, but their theology, which was so physically present in their lives, helped solidify this idea of ‘daily theology’ for me.”
Encouraged by Dr. Garber, she pursued a master’s in philosophy of religion at Yale Divinity School. Afterward, she spent three years teaching and coaching middle school track and cross-country at Live Oak Classical School in Waco, Texas.
“As a teacher and coach, I saw the faith-and-practice relationship I had observed in Fellows come to life in athletics,” she says. “I watched my students grow in courage, prudence, patience, and perseverance through participating in athletics. Teaching them virtuous character connected running to philosophy in my own life.”
Sabrina earned a PhD in philosophy at Baylor and is now teaching virtue ethics at Christopher Newport University. The convergence of faith and practice that Fellows initiated has grown into a comprehensive understanding of athletics, philosophy, and faith.
Though hurdles and distractions arise, Christ—the perfect example of faith and character—gives us both the desire and the ability to walk faithfully. Sanctification is not a passive process but requires our participation, discipline, and daily obedience. Like a runner training for a race, we must take intentional steps to grow in virtue, living out the faith we profess.
So how do we change our heart’s desires and act as we ought? We begin. We take the next faithful step, trusting that as we practice what we preach, Christ will shape us into His likeness.
Virginia Roth
TFI Communications and Research Associate
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