TOUGH TRAINING

During my last year of school, I realised I was so unfit that I couldn’t run more than thirty seconds before I was totally exhausted. So I made some time each week to work out and use a climbing wall. Near the end of the year, I went for a run, thinking I’d only make it a few minutes. I lasted two miles! The physical training paid off. But it wasn’t easy, and I didn’t always want to do it. To be completely honest, I sometimes feel the same way about reading and studying the Bible.

In his letters, Paul often used physical training as a picture for godly ‘training’. In 1 Timothy 4, he warned Timothy about false teaching: “Have nothing to do with godless myths . . . rather, train yourself to be godly” (1 TIMOTHY 4:7). He then explained what he meant: physical training has some value, “but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come” (V.8).

Through training in godliness—learning to live like Jesus through studying and applying the Bible’s words—Timothy and those he led in his church would be “nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that [they had] followed” (V.6). Although this kind of training can be tough, it helps us to live well and make God-centred choices as our minds are filled with the truth of the Bible.

Thinking it over . . .

In what ways do you struggle with training in godliness? What are some practical ways you can train regularly?