“If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished by the words of the faith and the good teaching that you have followed. But have nothing to do with pointless and silly myths. Rather, train yourself in godliness. 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. This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance. For this reason we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.” 1 Timothy 4:6-10
Training in Godliness
Lately, I have been having some conversations with some friends about exercising, losing weight, and getting healthier. I think all of us understand intellectually that the weight will not come off quickly, because we did not put it on quickly. It takes time, commitment, and perseverance to work off the pounds.
We may understand it intellectually, but as we start to exercise or change our diet, we often expect to see results immediately. I know I do this, because I am disappointed when I weigh myself after a week or two and don’t see any change.
Benefits – Limited and Unlimited
As our focus passage from this chapter says, training the body benefits us. However, it is limited when compared to training in godliness. Developing godliness in ourselves will benefit us in every way.
When I read over the entire chapter four in 1 Timothy, some words really stood out to me. Train. Labor. Strive. Give your attention. Practice. Be committed. Progress. Pay close attention. Persevere. These are very active words. They are geared toward developing a skill or ability.
Background
Let’s back up a little and take a look at the background for this passage.
“Now the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared. They forbid marriage and demand abstinence from foods that God created to be received with gratitude by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, since it is sanctified by the word of God and by prayer.” 1 Timothy 4: 1-5
There have been and will be people who are departing from the faith and drawing others away from it as well. They are making up rules that God did not intend to hold us to. Laws about marriage. Rules about food.
Avoid Distractions
“If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished by the words of the faith and the good teaching that you have followed. But have nothing to do with pointless and silly myths. Rather, train yourself in godliness. 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. This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance. For this reason we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.” 1 Timothy 4:6-10
Paul reminds Timothy that when people are headed down the wrong path, away from the true faith, it does them no favors to let them. It is helpful to them for the fallacies to be pointed out to them. He instructs us to avoid pointless myths that are a distraction.
Following the Action Words
Instead of following pointless myths, we should be daily training in godliness, persevering even when we don’t see results right away.
Train. Labor. Strive. Give your attention. Practice. Be committed. Progress. Pay close attention. Persevere.
“Command and teach these things. Don’t let anyone despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity. Until I come, give your attention to public reading, exhortation, and teaching. Don’t neglect the gift that is in you; it was given to you through prophecy, with the laying on of hands by the council of elders. Practice these things; be committed to them, so that your progress may be evident to all. Pay close attention to your life and your teaching; persevere in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.” 1 Timothy 4:11-16
Encourage Yourself
We should not let our age discourage us. Daily training in righteousness will bring about fruit if we train, work at it, give it our attention, practice actively applying the Word, are committed, pay close attention, and persevere. We will make progress.
Just like we shouldn’t get discouraged when we don’t see progress right away if we are training our physical bodies, we have to encourage ourselves as we train in godliness.
1 Timothy 4 Action Step:
Remember, last week we talked about how it can be discouraging if we try to tackle too many things at once. We do much better if we focus on one thing at a time. How are you doing on your one thing from last week?
Think about people who are really serious about exercise. They talk about leg day, arm day, ab day, etc. Maybe we need to train in godliness in a similar way. Rotate through different areas that the Holy Spirit is convicting us about.
Maybe we focus on showing love for others in our lives in active ways. Then, we provide for the needy. Next, we replace complaining with gratitude. And so on.
Share your one thing in the comments on this post or under the 1 Timothy 4 post at www.facebook.com/devoinaction or tag me @devoinaction on Instagram – I’d love to hear what the Holy Spirit is telling you and see pics of your Bible journaling!
1 Timothy 4 Prayer:
Dear God, Help us to encourage ourselves as we train in godliness. Give us our focus areas to work on through the guidance of your Holy Spirit. Help us to actively apply ourselves to what really matters instead of silly and pointless myths. Remind us to persevere. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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