DAY 9 - TRAINING FOR GODLINESS
Keaton Tucker, YA Groups Team Lead
“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 the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance.” 1 Timothy 4:7b-9
Have you ever thought about “training” for godliness? Or what does that even mean?
The word that Paul uses for training is the same word that we derive “gymnasium” from. Paul also says elsewhere “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” (1 Corinthians 9)
For Paul, becoming like Christ took training and it took the training level of an athlete. Athletes don't go to the gym for an hour a day 3 days a week. Athletes go to the gym 6 days a week for multiple hours. They train, recover, stretch, lift weights, condition, watch game film, sit in ice baths, all in hopes of winning the prize. Paul believes disciples who want to be like Jesus need this level of spiritual training.
The training disciples use to become like Jesus, to train oneself for godliness, is the utilization of spiritual disciplines or Jesus Habits. These habits train you to live as Jesus lived. Spiritual disciplines are like weight training for sports. My football coach used to make us squat all the time because he claimed it made us better at football. Never once did I perform a squat on the football field but I know the strength I gained in my legs made me a better football player. It’s the same with the spiritual disciplines - they have the same effect in your spiritual walk.
Spiritual disciplines or Jesus Habits are things such as memorizing scripture, prayer, fasting, being generous, silence and solitude, being still, study, and reading Christian books. These activities train you for godliness. They are gateways to accomplishing what you could not do by direct effort, they are activities that allow the Spirit to transform you. There are a lot of great books written on the subject and I highly recommend them but here’s all you need to know to start training yourself:
Disciplines make your spirit stronger - and you need to be strong
Jesus used the disciplines
The point of training as an athlete is not to get good at the exercise but to win the prize. It’s the same with the disciplines. For example, the goal isn’t to get good at fasting. The goal is to train the spirit and body to find sustenance in God and to break free from fleshly indulgence.
Here are some recommendations: start with scripture memorization. Memorize passages like Matthew 5-7, John 14-16, Colossians 3, Ephesians 1-3, Romans 5-8