Thursday, April 30, 2026

            Most of us would agree that exercise is a good idea and a healthy habit to practice.  There are plenty of ways you can exercise and develop a healthy lifestyle.  The Bible speaks about training—but a different kind of training than physical exercise.  Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 4:7 to “train yourself to be godly.”  Paul was writing to a young man named Timothy—a man who was much like a son to Paul and a man whom Paul was mentoring and discipling in the faith.  The message is to take intentional and regular action to get more of Christ in your mind and life.  Paul wrote in Romans 15:18, “I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me.”  Paul was committed to developing His faith by saturating His heart and mind with Christ.
            David Mathis, in his book Habits of Grace, writes that there are three principles we must remember and practice if we are to train ourselves for godliness.  Those three principles concern hearing God’s voice (the Bible), having God’s ear (praying) and belonging to His body (worshipping and growing with other believers).  These principles do not happen automatically or by accident.  We choose to bring these spiritual disciplines into our lives.  And when we introduce these practices into our lives, we begin to see the good results.  We begin to grow in godliness and soon our walk with Christ produces good and abundant fruit (think of the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23).
            We lean on God’s grace to develop these disciplines.  The Lord is the God of all grace (1 Peter 5:10).  It is by His grace, that He shows us how to live and how to train ourselves for godliness.  By coming to saving faith in Jesus, Christians believe that the ways of Christ are superior to the ways of the world.  Christ can transform any heart or mind that is open to Him and drawn to Him by the convicting power of the Holy Spirit.  In John 4, Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well that anyone who drinks the water He offers will never thirst again.  Christ, and Christ alone, can satisfy our deepest hunger, thirst and needs.
            Develop a lifestyle of reading the Bible.  Let God’s voice speak to you through His written Word.  God will always speak to us in ways that conform to His Word.  When we read the Bible, we can be confident that we are ingesting the wisdom and truth of God alone.  Cultivate a life of prayer.  Your prayer life may look like a time where you formally talk with God about your life and the lives of others—times where you praise Him and ask Him to be at work in you, in others or in situations.  But we are also reminded to pray without ceasing and to pray continuously (1 Thessalonians 5:17).  We can pray throughout the day and maintain a dialogue with God like you might maintain with a family member or a close friend.  When we belong to the body of Christ, the church, we have opportunities to worship and grow with other believers who desire the same things.  Scripture teaches us to come together to worship, to study, to serve and to share life with other Christians.  We are not to neglect these paramount things.
            God can supply the grace we need to read His Word regularly, to pray frequently
and to gather with other believers devotedly.  His grace is able to supply all of our needs and that includes training for godliness and living a life that is pleasing to Him.   God can grant to us a passion for His Word, time in prayer and growing alongside other believers who prioritize their spiritual health.  In a world that is increasingly confusing and chaotic, we can thrive when we are pursuing godliness and living for Christ.  John Piper suggests that we should preach the gospel to ourselves every day.  May we always remember what Christ won for us at the cross so we can live boldly and unashamedly for Him each day! Have a great Thursday!