TRAINING in Godliness

Scripture Verse that caught my attention today: 1 Timothy 4:7b&8 Train yourself in godliness, 8 for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

Observation: ‘Training’ may be the key word.

Application: What are we in training for? Normally when we speak of training we are referring to either learning a new job/skill or doing some form of exercise. The training, of course, is in preparation for the real thing.

But sometimes the training IS the real thing. For example, when I exercise physically, I am not in training for some upcoming event. I’m not on an athletic team or preparing for some competition. I’m simply training my body to be/stay in shape. Some might suggest that I’m training to live longer and/or better or to place less drain on our collective health care system, etc. That might be partially true. But I’ve been a pastor long enough to know that there are no guarantees on longevity. So really, the training is the real thing; it helps me feel better now and might help me feel better later.

The same goes—and even more so—for training in godliness. I’m not talking about being super holy. Lord knows that’s not the case for any of us. But I would suggest that training for godliness is not a passive activity. Being saved by Jesus is not necessarily the same thing as being a disciple/follower of Jesus. The former is a gift to many. The latter, while certainly a summons to many, is accepted by only a relative few.

Godliness training, of course, is less about programming and more about being intentionally aware and inquisitive of God’s various calls and how we might best respond. The training and the opportunity to practice what we’ve learned go pretty much hand in hand and sometimes in reverse order, thus reminding us of our need for more and more training. The Bible tells us that the original disciples were trying to cast out a demon and it just wasn’t working. “This kind [of demon] only comes out with prayer” Jesus then told them. I’ll bet they prayed a lot more after that! That’s what people in godliness training do.

Prayer: Lord, whatever godliness training is, help me to do more of it. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Scripture readings today included: 2 Kings 8-9, 2 Chronicles 21, 1 Timothy 4)