TEXT: 1 Timothy 4:7
TITLE: TRAIN YOURSELF TO BE GODLY
The apostle Paul did not take for granted the godliness of his spiritual son Timothy. Though Timothy had been his companion and co-laborer for a number of years, Paul still felt it necessary to write to him, “(exercise) train yourself to be godly.” (NIV) And if Timothy needed this encouragement, then surely we also need it today.
In urging Timothy to train himself in godliness, Paul borrowed a term from the realm of athletics. The verb which is variously translated in different versions of the Bible as “exercise,” “discipline,” or “train” originally referred to the training of young athletes for participation in the competitive games of the day. Then it took on a more general meaning of training or discipline of either the body or the mind in a particular skill.
PRINCIPLES FOR TRAINING
There are several principles in Paul’s exhortation to Timothy to train himself to be godly that are applicable to us today. The FIRST is personal responsibility. Paul said, “Train yourself.” Timothy was personally responsible for his progress in godliness. He was not to trust the Lord for that progress and then relax, though he certainly understood that any progress he made was only through divine enablement. He would have understood that he was to work out this particular aspect of his salvation in confidence that God was at work in him. He must pursue it.
We Christians may be very disciplined and industrious in our business, our studies, our home, or even our ministry, but we tend to be lazy when it comes to exercise in our own spiritual lives. We would much rather pray, “Lord, make me godly,” and expect Him to “pour” some godliness into our souls in some mysterious way. God does in fact work in a mysterious way to make us godly, but He does not do this apart from the fulfillment of our own personal responsibility. We are to train ourselves to be godly.
The SECOND principle in Paul’s exhortation is that the object of this training was growth in timothy’s personal spiritual life. Even though he was an experienced, well-qualified Christian minister, Timothy still needed to grow in the essential areas of godliness – the fear of God, the comprehension of the love of God, and the desire for the presence and fellowship of God.
The emphasis of our age is on serving God, accomplishing things for God. Enoch was a preacher of righteousness in a day of gross ungodliness, but God saw fit that the brief account of his life emphasized that he walked with God. What are we training ourselves for? Are we training ourselves only in Christian activity, as good as that may be, or are we training ourselves first of all in godliness?
The THIRD principle in Paul’s words of exhortation to Timothy is the importance of minimum characteristics necessary for training. Many of us have watched various Olympic competitions on television, and as the commentators have given us the backgrounds of the various athletes, we become aware of certain irreducible minimums in the training of all Olympic competitors. It is very likely that Paul had these minimum characteristics in mind as he compared physical training with training in godliness.
THE COST OF COMMITMENT
The first of these irreducible minimums is commitment. No one makes it to the level of Olympic, or even national, competition without a commitment to pay the price of rigorous, daily training. And similarly, no one ever becomes godly without a commitment to pay the price of the daily spiritual training which God has designed for our growth in godliness.
The concept of commitment occurs repeatedly throughout the Bible. In is found in David’s cry to God, “earnestly I seek you” (Psalm 63:1). It is found in God’s promise to the captives in Babylon, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). It lies behind such exhortations as “Make every effort…to be holy” (Hebrews 12:14), and “make every effort to add to you faith…godliness” (2 Peter 1:5-7). None of this seeking, pressing on, or making every effort will occur without commitment on our part.
There is a price to godliness, and godliness is never on sale. It never comes cheaply or easily. The verb train, which Paul deliberately chose, implies persevering, painstaking, diligent effort. He was well aware of the total commitment those young athletes made to win a crown that would not last. And as he thought of the crown that would last – the godliness that has value for all things, both in the present life and the life to come – he urged Timothy, and he urges us today, to make the kind of commitment necessary to train ourselves to be godly.
LEARNING FROM A SKILLED TEACHER
The second irreducible minimum in training is a competent teacher or coach. No athlete, regardless of how much natural ability he has, can make it to the Olympics without a skillful coach who holds him to the highest standard of excellence and sees and corrects every minor fault. In the same way we cannot train ourselves to be godly without the teaching and training ministry of the Holy Spirit. He holds us to the highest standard of spiritual excellence as He teaches, rebukes, corrects, and trains us. But He teaches and trains us through His word. Therefore we must consistently expose ourselves to the teaching of the word of God if we are to grow in godliness.
In Titus 1:1 Paul refers to “the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness.” This truth is to be found only in the Bible, but it is not just academic knowledge of Bible facts. It is spiritual knowledge taught by the Holy Spirit as He applies the truth of God to our hearts.
We must spend much time in exposure to His word, since it is His means of teaching us. But this exposure must be accompanied by a sense of deep humility regarding our ability to learn spiritual truth and a sense of utter dependence upon His ministry in our hearts.
PRACTICE, AND MORE PRACTICE
The third irreducible minimum in the training process is practice. It is practice that puts feet to the commitment and applies the teaching of the coach. It is practice, where the skill is developed, that makes the athlete competitive in his sport. And it is the practice of godliness that enables us to become godly Christians. We must practice godliness, just as the athlete practices his particular sport.
USING THE WORD OF GOD
It is evident that the word of God plays a crucial role in our growth in godliness. A prominent part of our practice of godliness, therefore, will be our time in the word of God. The Navigators use the 5 fingers of the hand as mental pegs on which to hang 5 methods of intake of the word of God -–hearing, reading, studying, memorizing, and meditating. These methods are important for godliness and need to be considered one by one.
The most common method of scriptural intake is hearing the word of God taught to us by our pastors and teachers. The Lord has given to His church people who are gifted to teach us the truths of His word, to remind us of the lessons we are prone to forget, and to exhort us to constancy in application. We need to heed those whom He has given to us for this purpose.
None of us ever becomes so spiritually self-sufficient that he does not need to hear the word taught by others.
One reason the hearing of the word of God has fallen into such low esteem is that we do not obey God’s teaching in Revelation 1:3 – “blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it.” Too often today we listen to be entertained instead of instructed, to be moved emotionally rather than moved to obedience. We do not take to heart what we hear and apply it in our daily lives.
We present-day Christians are hardly different from the Jews of Ezekiel’s time, of whom God said, “My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice” (Ezekiel 33:31).
The second method of scriptural intake is reading the Bible ourselves. Through Bible reading we have the opportunity to learn directly from the Master Teacher, the Holy Spirit. As helpful and profitable as it is to learn from the teaching of others, there is an unmatched joy in having the Holy Spirit speak to us directly from the pages of his word.
Bible reading enables us, too, to enjoy communion with God as He speaks to us from his word, encouraging us, instructing us, and revealing Himself to us.
The third method of Bible intake is studying the Scriptures. Reading gives us breadth, but study gives us depth. Greater diligence and mental intensity are required for study, in which we analyze a passage, compare Scripture with Scripture, ask questions, make observations, and finally organize the fruit of our study into some kind of logical presentation.
Every Christian should be a student of the Bible.
You may ask, where can we find the time for quality Bible study? You always find time for what is important to you. How important is the practice of godliness to you? Is it important enough to take priority over television, books, magazines, recreation, and a score of activities that we all somehow find time to engage in?
Memorization of key passages is a fourth method of scriptural intake. Without doubt the classic verse for Scripture memorization is Psalm 119:11: “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” The word that is translated in verse 11 as “hidden” is elsewhere translated as “stored up,” a phrase which is more descriptive of the actual meaning. In proverbs 7:1, for example, Solomon says, “My son…store up my commands within you,” and in Proverbs 10:14 he says, “Wise men store up knowledge.” From these passages it is clear that the central idea of the psalmist in Psalm 119:11 was that of storing up God’s word in his heart against a time of future need – a time when he would encounter temptation and would be kept from that temptation by the word of God.
But the word of God stored in the heart does more than keep us from sin. It enables us to grow in every area of the Christian life. Specifically for our practice of godliness, it enables us to grow in our devotion to God and in the Godlike character that makes our lives pleasing to Him.
The fifth method for taking in God’s word is meditation. The word meditate as used in the OT literally means to murmur or to mutter and, by implication, to talk to oneself. When we meditate on the Scriptures we talk to ourselves about them, turning over in our minds the meanings, the implications, and the applications to our own lives.
Bare memorization only gets the Scriptures into our minds. Meditation on those same Scriptures opens our understanding, engages our affections, and addresses our wills.
Meditation on the word of God is commanded in Joshua 1:8 & commended in Psalm 1:2. Both verses speak of meditation day and night, not just when we are having our quiet time. It is impossible to meditate on Scripture day and night without some form of Scripture memorization.
Walking with God involves communion with God. His word is absolutely necessary and central to our communion with Him. Pleasing God requires knowing His will – how He wants us to live, what He wants us to do. His word is the only means by which He communicates that will to us. It is impossible to practice godliness without a constant, consistent, & balanced intake of the word of God in our lives.
THE NATURE OF TRAINING
Paul said, “Train yourself to be godly.” You and I are responsible to train ourselves. We are dependent upon God for His divine enablement, but we are responsible; we are not passive in this process. Our objective in this process is godliness – not proficiency in ministry, but God-centered devotion and Godlike character. We do want to develop proficiency in ministry, but for training in godliness we want to focus on our relationship with God.
