How to make the most of your walk with God? Answer: TRAIN YOURSELF TO BE GODLY.
• Get into training. Training (practices) helps you become more like Christ.
• If training helps us excel in the things we commit to, then spiritual training (disciplines) will help us be LIKE Christ.
• This is the best investment you can make with your life - commit yourself to a set of practices that can grow you into someone who reflect the beauty of Jesus Christ in thoughts, words, attitudes and deeds.
Paul tells Timothy in 1 Tim 4:7-8
“Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. 8 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) GODLINESS IS OUR LIFE’S GOAL
Don’t waste time with godless myths and old wives’ tales, Paul tells Timothy.
• Some things aren’t worth our time and energy.
• Invest your time wisely – train yourself to be godly - godliness (or Christ-likeness) is eternally valuable.
Everyone wants a better life, but our goal is the godly life - the life that models after Christ, one that fulfils the will of God.
• King Solomon has what the world calls the better life, but he wasn’t fulfilled.
• He has wealth, status, fame, and even wisdom (that no one can match). Yet the wisest man on earth (cf. 2 Chron 1:11-12) says in Ecclesiastes that these are all meaningless and pointless.
• “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole [duty] of man.” He says. (Eccl 12:13) That alone satisfies.
2 Peter 1:3 “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.”
• Through His power, God has given us EVERYTHING we need for life and godliness.
• He saves us to live like Christ. Godliness is not only a goal; it is a possible, achievable goal for anyone in Christ. Say: I CAN BE LIKE CHRIST!
God wants to TRANSFORM us into the likeness of His Son.
• His great concern is not just to inform us about Himself. That’s knowledge.
• His concern is not to get us to conform to some rules. That’s religion.
• Jesus came to change us. God saves us by His grace and transforms us.
Godliness is our goal. It must be our life’s purpose, our life’s pursuit, our life’s passion and the preoccupation of our life.
• Nothing really matters if we fail to live like Christ. We are not winning the prize.
• Any other quests in life will mean that I’m settling for something less than the best.
What then is godliness? To put it in practical terms, it is LOVE.
(2) LOVE IS THE TRUE INDICATOR OF GODLINESS
Listen to what Jesus, Paul and John says.
• Matt 22:37-40 "`Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: `Love your neighbour as yourself.' 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
• 1 Cor 13:1-2 “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, [very spiritual] but have not love, I am nothing.”
• 1 John 4:7-8 “Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
We are called to LOVE GOD and LOVE PEOPLE.
• Godliness is not being spiritual, it is to being loving. To be godly is to have a love for God and love for people!
• In the parable, Jesus says the Samaritan man got it, but not the priest and Levite.
• Spirituality has nothing to do with your knowledge of the Word (priest) or your service in the church (Levite). The true indicator of a godly person is love.
The question to ask is: Do I love God more today? Do I love people more today?
(3) TRAINING IS THE MEANS TO GODLINESS
If we can grow in love with God and with people without any training (discipline, practice), so be it and let’s drop these practices.
• But we cannot. Nothing we excel in today comes to us naturally. We learn them, we work at it, and we train to do them well.
• Even in relationships – in any relationship, we need to work at it. We need to invest time, energy and sometimes even money into it.
Spiritually speaking then, it would be unthinkable to believe that we can fall deeply in love with Jesus or in love with people, without any effort.
In last week’s DVD Session, we read 1 Cor 9:25-27
Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
• Paul says we need to go into STRICT TRAINING. We cannot expect to run aimlessly and win the prize. “I do not fight like a man beating the air.” (1 Cor 9:26)
It is not a matter of trying harder, but training wisely.
• We learnt that there is a great difference between TRAINING to do something and TRYING to do something.
• I cannot run a marathon today, even if I try very, very hard because trying hard can only do so much. I’ve to change my schedule, re-organise my lifestyle, and get into a consistent and rigorous training stint, over an extended time, in order to run a marathon.
• Training can get me there, while trying will never!
Trying to be like Christ will never do. Willpower can never get you there. We know that because we’ve tried and failed many times.
• What we need is to TRAIN ourselves, by the power of the Holy Spirit (according to 2 Pet 1:3), to be like Christ.
• In order words, I must arrange my life around certain activities, practices (done repeatedly) so that I can gradually (by His strength) think, feel, and act like Jesus.
If we need practices and trainings in sports, in arts, in music, in cooking, and in almost every aspect of life, don’t you think we need the same for our spiritual life?
• Oswald shared with SY last week that he practices the piano every night from 6-11pm. He said that it is not just skills; actually if you practice enough you can achieve standard you want.
• Whatever you commit to in training, you can excel. Training can do what will-power cannot.
APPLICATIONS: So what are some practices you need to get yourselves into?
• You need to decide, because no one drifts into a life of training. You don’t flow into godliness; you train yourself into it.
• Chip Ingram says we need to pre-decide; make advance decisions. He has 3x5 cards that say, “I WANT TO BE …………” You must WANT IT; you must DESIRE for it.
• So that I am not “running aimlessly”, but “running in such a way as to get the prize”!
• I hope you can take this seriously, go home, sit down and draw up a plan (if you have no plan). Don’t drift through life. Make the most of our walk with God.
We are in different stages and seasons of life, given different gifts and temperament, so the forms or formats will be different.
• You don’t have to copy someone else disciplines. You need to customise your own training programme.
• Think of practices that can help you keep the spiritual channel with God open and the heart turned toward God.
• You can think along these areas – your meeting with God (worship, pray, solitude, journaling/blogging, Sunday Services, etc), serving God (fellowship, family, community works, etc), self (sleep, diet, exercising, etc.)
Start where you are weakest at or your greatest barrier. What is the biggest problem in your walk with God right now? What’s the biggest problem you have with God?
• Then find practices that goes against them - if you are hyperactive (busy), stop and be still for 30mins; stress out, sleep at 11pm each night; you have a bad mouth (criticise, slander, gossip), not talking for one day.
• Start small. Start with a few – one or at most two. [In your small groups, share your current disciplines and suggest some good pointers, like a coach sharing tips.]
Remember TWO things:
(1) REMEMBER THEY ARE ONLY MEANS TO AN END
• They are not ends in themselves. They are not a gauge of your spirituality, and they are not a way to earn God’s favour. They are not ends in themselves; they are there to help us grow to be like Christ.
• If you focus on them, you’ll end up like the Pharisees – boasting about prayers, fasting, and their knowledge of the Law – and missed the Christ standing there.
• Remember these are just means to an end – the end is to be like Christ. The Pharisees aren’t acting like Christ; they were proud and unloving.
All these disciplines must bring us closer to God.
• If any practice causes you to feel proud, very spiritual - then drop it, because it is not serving its right purpose. If you are getting proud because of it, then stop it and you will have no reason to be proud.
• The only thing spiritual about you will be your love for God and for people. That alone shows whether we have grown to be more like Christ. That’s godliness.
(2) REMEMBER ONLY GOD HAS THE POWER TO CHANGE LIVES
Spiritual growth can never happen apart from the power of God. It is not something we produce by human effort and good disciplines.
• The practices help us get in touch with God and His divine power.
• Without Him, we cannot. Without disciplines, we are not allowing God to work.
Let me end with this illustration by John Ortberg:
Motorboat vs Sailboat
If life is like a motorboat, we can run it all by ourselves. Just fill in the gas, start the engine and off you go, in whatever direction you want. You are in full control.
But our life is like a sailboat and it is different. We hoist the sails and steer the rudder, but we are utterly dependent on the wind. The wind (the Spirit of God) does the work and blows wherever He wants.
If the wind doesn’t blow – and sometimes it doesn’t – we just have to sit still in the water and wait. Our task is to do whatever we can to catch the wind. Over time, and with some experience, the sailor will be able to know when to raise or lower which sails to catch the wind most effectively.
Disciplines are like these sails. God uses them to touch us, mould us, and transform us.
• This is God’s work in our life. We cannot engineer it, nor take credit for it.
• But we need the sails – practices that provide opportunities for God to work.
• Can you provide these for God?
