Training in godliness

Call To Prayer

Title: Training in godliness

By: Njuacha Hubert

Date: 15.05.2023

 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.  For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.  1 Timothy 4:7-9 NIV

Just as Saint Paul was encouraging his spiritual son Timothy in the opening verse about training in godliness, I would like to also encourage us to continue to train ourselves in godliness.  I would like to talk about the why and the how. In general, in whatsoever you do, these are two important questions to ask, why and how. Why should we train ourselves to be godly and then how should we train ourselves to be godly. Today I will concentrate on the why and in a part II of this I will share on the how.

First of all if Saint Paul says to Timothy “train yourself to be holy” it means it does not just come automatically because some one has become born again. It means training in godliness exist just as training to be a teacher, or an athlete. Being born again is like receiving the talent to play football but without training, the talent can’t be expressed and like wise without the talent, there can’t be expression no matter the training (John 3:5). When you are baptized your spirit is born again and you receive a new spirit but the soul and the body are still the same. While the body will be transformed into an immortal one on the last day, the soul or mind is to be continually renewed to reflect the state of the perfected spirit (Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 5:17).

The first point I would give is that as the opening verse says “…godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come“. It is not only in heaven, after you pass on from this life that you will benefit from your growth in godliness. From what Jesus says in Mathew 6:33, everything will be added on to you when you train in godliness; riches, power, honour, pleasure, fame, you name it. When God says everything He means everything. You may say well the devil has being supplying people with these things but remember contrary to the devil when God blesses you He adds no sorrow to it(Proverbs 10:22) besides the devil will give you things in exchange for something much more costly which is your soul. There is a rich reward for all godly acts both here on earth and in heaven (Mathew 19:29). For example when you practice humility you will be exalted and Jesus gave a practical example in Luke 14:9-11.

By training in godliness you are preparing yourself to be used by God mightily (2 Timothy 2:20-21).  Imagine you had a company. Would you promote someone who is lazy and not excelling in his role? Won’t you look for those who are showing proof of commitment and hard work in order to promote them. It is the same in God’s kingdom. Just as a business owner God doesn’t want failure so He has to entrust greater responsibility to those who are prepared for it.

Let’s keep training in godliness for God is faithful and we will definitely reap the fruits of our labor of love.

Prayer Point:

Let’s thank God for the word today. Let’s pray for the grace to submit to the training God takes us through and to actively participate being conscious of the benefits.