Train Yourself for Godliness

“Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;” -ESV 1 Timothy 4:7

What kinds of training have you experienced? Some of you will undoubtedly think of rigorous military training. I don’t have any military experience, but my younger brother has told me plenty about Paris Island. Based on my conversations with him, I know that Marine training is intense to say the least. He even got some special treatment, not that he asked for it, at meal time. It seems that the Marines pay closer attention to your portions if you go into basic training a little on the heavy side. But I’ve got to hand it to them, twelve weeks later he came out of training a changed man.

Of course there are other kinds of training too. We go to college and enter into rigorous, prolonged courses of study in order to equip ourselves with the appropriate knowledge and skills to pursue a particular vocation. And as our studies progress in a particular subject, the study material becomes more and more focused. While freshman history classes are notorious for having hundreds of students, the atmosphere is much cozier in advanced courses like Tax Accounting and Organic Chemistry II. (For the record, I’ve actually taken Tax Accounting, but Organic Chemistry I was enough for me.)

And then there’s physical training. How many of you have ever tried to train your body by joining a health club? Those of you who’ve made the attempt know that discipline and accountability are keys to success. Confession time: In this area, if somebody is not holding me accountable, I won’t practice the necessary discipline to complete the task. For instance, today I’m six pounds lighter than I was a year ago after having lost 30 pounds during the last twelve months. (Don’t laugh too hard.)

Anyway, are you beginning to see a pattern? Effective training of all sorts shares common keys to success; focused attention, study, discipline and accountability. And I might ad that successful training is seldom easy. It takes effort to transition from civilian to Marine; from high school grad to college grad; from – well, you get the picture. To paraphrase Matthew Kelly, we often desire change; but it’s the transition that’s difficult.

In our text today, Paul tells Timothy to avoid irreverent, silly myths, but to focus instead on godliness. Now, many of you no doubt desire godliness. I mean how could a professing Christian not desire godliness? Wouldn’t that be completely contrary?

But godliness is not something that is simply conferred on a person. No, Paul tells Timothy to train himself for godliness. The implication is that while we might desire to change so that we are indeed more “godly” we will have to do so through a transition; training is required.

In his book, The Pursuit of Holiness, Jerry Bridges says: “God’s Word must be so strongly fixed in our minds that it becomes the dominant influence in our thoughts, our attitudes, and our actions.” His point is that to pursue holiness, or godliness, we must train ourselves by and through God’s Word. And if we train day in and day out by firmly planting God’s Word in our minds, then our thoughts and actions will become more and more inclined to godliness with each passing day.

For those of you willing to take Paul’s advice to heart; for those of you willing to train yourself for godliness; let me encourage you to identify with a local, Bible believing church that will support your endeavors by supplying some of the keys to success. Namely, the preaching/teaching of God’s Word and gentle accountability.

-Ken Askew