Godliness Training

“Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” I Timothy 4:7-8

“But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” Hebrews 5:14

 Paul in I Timothy implores Christians to pursue godliness. Train for godliness in verse 4:7; women dress for godliness in verses 2:9-10; show godliness to own household in verse 5:4; purse teaching that accords with godliness in verse 6:3, among others. God is not a killjoy. He instructs us to pursue godliness as it is the key to contentment in the present life and has benefits for our eternal life to come in the form of rewards and perhaps even increased enjoyment of Heaven. This godliness is to be accomplished by self-discipline. The Greek word translated “train” comes from the root that is the basis for gymnasium. Christians are supposed to work at building godliness in their lives as they would their bodies in a gym. This can include spiritual disciplines such as prayer, Bible reading, fasting, worship, etc. that lead to godly lives.

Pursing godliness will lead to a mature Christian ready for the solid food of the Word of God and the resulting spiritual growth. We should train our powers of discernment by constant practice in distinguishing good from evil such as appropriate dressing, dealing with family and others in a godly way, being honest and pure in our speech, etc. Further we should identify ways to avoid temptation. For example, we should discipline ourselves to stay away from watching seductive shows or movies and also stay away from gambling casinos and places that serve alcohol if we discern that we have weaknesses in these areas. We should discern any lack of faith and learn to avoid worry and develop trust in God.

Charles Swindoll has said “Though it may be oversimplified, one of my favorite definitions of maturity is the ability to know good from evil, combined with the self-control to respond accordingly.” That is the key to godliness, using spiritual disciplines and godly discernment to identify good from evil and practicing self-control to respond accordingly. As we train our spiritual self in this way we will grow increasingly more godly and better prepared for eternity to come.