Train for Godliness
I wonder if one of the reasons why some followers of Christ suffer from a lack of godliness is because they don't view it as something that can be trained for?
I want to be a godly person. It's not because I want to be better than others. Who am I to judge anyone with how they decide to live their life? Our choices in life are between us and the Lord. We will each have to give an account to our Master. For myself, I know I want to be a godly person. After all, God is my Father in heaven and I want to be like Him in so many ways. I want to represent my Father well here on earth. The apostle Paul called believers to "be imitators of God, as beloved children" (Eph. 5:1 ESV). There's a desire in me to imitate God as best as I can, just like how my own 2-year-old son tries to imitate me as his dad.
But becoming a godly person is difficult work. As a person who lives in a broken and sinful world, it's a noble but challenging endeavor to become godly. I'm frequently tempted. At times, it seems easier to respond to a situation in an ungodly way. I face my own character issues. I have baggage from my past to deal with. I thank the Lord Jesus Christ for dying on the cross to redeem me from every sin issue in my life. I can continue to make imperfect attempts towards godliness knowing that I have already received salvation from God. Becoming a godly person is not a way for me to receive salvation. It’s a way for me to please my Lord who has already saved me.
The good news is that godliness can be trained for. Paul exhorted his disciple Timothy with these words: "Train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way" (1 Tim. 4:7-8 ESV). Just like how we can train our bodies to perform amazing athletic feats, we can train ourselves to become godly in our thinking and behavior. Godliness isn't something that is simply bestowed upon us all of a sudden. It's something that we can and should work hard to attain.
The spiritual disciplines that I undertake each and every day help train me for godliness. Prayer, reading and memorizing Scripture, meditation, stillness, worship, and other spiritual exercises that I do contribute to my training regimen. They aid me in my quest to become a godly person who ultimately thinks and behaves in Christ-like ways. I hope to show up to every situation in life in a way that would ultimately please the Lord. As Paul said to Timothy, godliness "holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come" (1 Tim. 4:8 ESV). Godliness is not something that will only be of value in heaven, but it will also be a useful characteristic here on earth that will influence every part of my life. With godliness in tow, I can show up to any situation life throws at me in a way that would please God most.
I wonder if one of the reasons why some followers of Christ suffer from a lack of godliness is because they don't view it as something that can be trained for? The Scriptures tell us otherwise. If we want to become godly people, we can't wait for it to "just happen." We have the opportunity today, together with the Holy Spirit, to put in the work and train for the kind of godliness we hope to see in our lives.
Barnabas the Monastic
Servant of Christ. Husband. Dad. Modern Monastic. I have a wild ambition in life: get as close to the Lord Jesus Christ as I can while on earth. I explore and integrate ancient Christian monk wisdom in modern everyday life. Lives in Canada.
