Ready:
“For the training of the body has limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” —1 Timothy 4:8
Set:
Appearance can be a tricky concept. It can detail someone’s view of you or how you view yourself. It is easy to get caught up in differing definitions, but the reality is that our primary role is to know how God views us.
In Psalm 139, David utters the famous phrase, “I have been remarkably and wondrously made.”
If the Creator of the universe says that we are remarkable and wonderful, how should that change our perspective, the way we see ourselves, our appearance and behaviors? The Bible often uses the metaphors of physical athletes to explain important values of the Christian faith.
Just like physical training requires discipline and consistency, godliness is cultivated through intentional spiritual growth. The goal is to become more like Christ and reflect His love and righteousness in all aspects of life.
1 Timothy 4:7-8 tells us to train physically and spiritually. It says that “training the body has limited benefit,” but does not say it has no benefit. God created us in His image, and it is an act of worship to the Lord to steward our physical bodies well. But most importantly, we are not to stop there. We need to continually push our spiritual growth as much as we train our bodies. Training in godliness as a Christian means actively pursuing a life that reflects God's character, growing in faith and living in obedience to His Word.
Four Steps to Train in Godliness
Engage in prayer, Bible study, fasting, worship
,and fellowship to strengthen faith and dependence on God.Transform your thinking through Scripture rather than conforming to worldly influences.
Live with integrity, love, humility and holiness as Christ exemplified.
Remain steadfast in trials, trusting God’s plan and growing spiritually through challenges.
How we appear before God shows the state of our hearts. It is important to take care of our bodies, as God has given them to us to live and love as He does. And it’s important to care for our souls, as our spiritual training builds spiritual muscles and honors God, who wonderfully and purposefully created us. Let’s appear like Him today.
Go:
Do you think you view your physical body and competition in sports the way God desires you to?
Do you need to make any changes so that your lifestyle and view of athletics match God’s?
Do you have an opportunity to step up and lead others?
Workout:
Overtime:
“Father, thank You that You have made me. You created me with intention and care. I want to strengthen my spiritual muscles, and train in godliness. Transform my way of thinking so I may renew my mind and have Your Spirit move in me. Amen.”