Discipline Keys That Lead to Godliness - Part 3

We’ve been exploring 1 Timothy 4:6-10 and looking at discipline keys that lead to godliness. We’ve said that discipline is the pathway to freedom and what separates dreamers from doers. Just as discipline is necessary in the natural, it is also necessary in the spiritual.

You can read the last two posts here: Part 1 | Part 2

We said the first discipline key was to be:

1) Tethered to Good Doctrine.

We need to have the fundamentals of the gospel down so we don’t slip away into false teaching and error.

Today we’ll explore two more keys.

The Discipline that leads to godliness is also and necessarily:

2) Intentional

Paul who was writing to Timothy in our passage, now borrows a metaphor from the world of athleticism to drive home the importance of discipline that leads to godliness. He says, “train yourself for godliness.” That the word discipline. In the original language, Greek, it is the word gymnasia, from which we get our word gymnasium — the place of training. Do you remember the TV commercials for these "workout" devices:

The Thigh Master

Remember Suzanne Somers peddling this torture device in the 90's with promises of developing nice looking and toned thighs and legs without much effort.

Ab Roller

You could work on a six pack while rolling this on the floor. Would be better if you could multitask and vacuum while your roll.

Vibro Belt

This was insane! I could just wear this belt that jiggles by belly and it's supposed to give me rock-hard abs. I can sit on the couch, munching on chips and a Coke and have six pack abs! Gotta love it!

Someone has said that these things aren’t training machines, they’re trying machines. They're for trying not training. They’re for taking shortcuts to fitness, not discipline. And in the Christian life, there are no shortcuts to spiritual maturity. Paul is talking about training here not trying. The discipline that leads to godliness is about rigorous, intense, concentrated, energetic training.

Training requires a rearrangement of our lives around certain practices that will enable us to do what we cannot do now by willpower alone. If you want to run a marathon, you’ve got to train for it or you’ll die! If you want to enter a fitness competition, you’ve got to train. If you want to excel in your career or profession, you’ve got to be disciplined in learning and growing the skill sets necessary to succeed.

Training and discipline shapes you—it changes you.

Godly habits would not appear without determined human purpose and effort. The Greek athlete had to refuse certain things, eat the right food, and do the right exercises to compete.

As Christians, we need to have that same mindset, we need to do the spiritual exercises that will yield the desired fruit of godliness in our lives.

And no one wakes up trained. No one stumbles in to health and fitness. No one wakes up one day and is elite athlete. It takes discipline, routine, and determination.

If a Christian puts as much energy and discipline into his spiritual life as an athlete does to compete in their chosen sport or game, think about the kind of growth the Christian would experience.

The athlete has drills, exercises, and routines that lead him toward the greater goal of fitness and conditioning, strength, speed or agility.

In the same manner, prayer, Bible study, Scripture memorization, fasting, self-examination, service, fellowship, and other disciplines are not ends in and of themselves, they are means to the desired spiritual maturity that every Christian should aspire to.

Just because God has promised to make us like Christ does not mean we can neglect the very things that in practice help to bring that about.

Here are two intentional things I think every Christian needs to do for spiritual training: Bible reading and prayer.

a) Bible readingPick a reading plan if that helps you and stick to it. Even when you don’t feel like it. That is what will help you cultivate the habit.

b) PrayerYou need to plan to pray. Set a calendar alert on your smartphone.

That which is done repetitively becomes a habit. What becomes a habit will get repeated.

The Discipline that leads to godliness is also:

3) Purposeful

Paul says that physical training has some value, it has some benefit, but it’s largely relegated to the physical realm. He’s not saying it has no value, he’s just saying it’s not the superior value.

Our bodies are God’s temples and are to be used for His glory and in His service. (1 Cor. 6:19-20; Romans 12:1-2)

However, discipline that leads to godliness—that has exceedingly great value. That has great purpose. The pursuit of godliness, and godliness itself shows its superiority because it offers advantages in two realms. It has benefits in this life and the one to come.

Godliness affects everything in our life: our view of self, our marriage, our parenting, business, how we work, our relationships— everything.

Godliness has deep value and purpose. That is why we must discipline ourselves towards godliness. That’s why we need to practice the things that produce godliness in our life.

So we are to minor in physical exercise and major in godliness. We should see that godliness represents a higher priority than physical training. Godliness has the potential of impacting all of our actions, experiences and relationships for good.

In the next post, I’ll share the final key.