Godly training is profitable now and for eternity. It does not mean you are some super spiritual person who cannot relate to others. Actually, godly means you have the character of Jesus working in and through you at optimum capacity. Thus, you understand and relate to people very effectively. It is not all about you, but about others and their needs. You encourage when there needs to be encouragement. You rebuke when you need to rebuke. You teach when there needs to be teaching. The godly know how to laugh, cry, pray, hope, work hard, and have faith in God. Godliness comes in all forms.
Every temperament we have can express godliness. If you are an extrovert, your godly expression may come in the form of humor or encouragement. Your ability to make people laugh is godly. Your passion to encourage and build up others is godly. Godliness is certainly expressed through your character. Your honesty is godly; your diligence is godly; your pure motive is godly; your generosity is godly; your compassion, boldness and leadership are godly. All of these behaviors that reflect the way Christ would behave are godly. Godliness is behaving as Jesus would behave. It is not a certain voice inflection or body language, because those can be pretentious/fake and ungodly. It is having a heart and mind that expresses itself as Christ would.
True godliness points others to God. It provides value for all things: body, mind, soul, and spirit. Godliness, however, does not happen accidentally. There is intentionality to godliness. Just as the body benefits from physical training, so the mind, soul, and spirit benefit from training in godliness. The most effective training comes with consistency and repetition. It is not a complicated process, but it is exercising faith. The muscles of faith expand and contract when engaged in everyday life. Training involves prayer instead of worry as praying works on the heart. It is our spiritual cardio workout. Worry works like plaque and cholesterol clogging the flow of God’s faithfulness to you. He is always faithful, but you must receive his faithfulness by faith. Prayer facilities this and provides a free flow of faith. In addition, fasting keeps your focus on the Lord.
Training in godliness means the word of God becomes our spiritual diet. If we replace the word with the world we will settle for spiritual junk food rather than Jesus. Snubbing God’s word is like substituting chips for chicken or fish. This cheap imitation of spiritual nutrition eventually disables our godly maturity. Lastly, training in godliness requires service to others. We work out our faith in good deeds. We serve others for the glory of God. This is training in godliness. This has tremendous value now and forevermore. Therefore, train well and you will be transformed. Over time, when you look into the mirror of your soul you will see His glory in you. There are benefits to training in godliness, and this training always works for our good.
Our prayer: Father thank you for your training us in godliness. Help us to embrace your word, commit to prayer, and give ourselves to service daily that more and more we grow in godliness Amen.
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Pastor Todd A. Brown
First Baptist of Chesterbrook
and Independent Travel Agent "Travel by Todd"
First Baptist of Chesterbrook
and Independent Travel Agent "Travel by Todd"
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