Trained for Godliness

My Marine at Parris Island

“…train yourself to be godly. Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.” (1 Timothy 4:7-8 NLT)

Training to be godly begins on the battlefield of the mind. Right thinking leads to right words and actions. The Holy-Spirit-disciplined mind, strongly equipped in the knowledge of God’s Word, learns to recognize temptations of the world, sins of the flesh, and attacks of the enemy and effectively exercises godly wisdom by applying God’s Truth in the right places at the right time.

At the first inkling of irritability, criticism, judgmentalness, anger, selfishness, depression, doubt, hopelessness, lust, or lies, the well-schooled minutemen of faith will take action to destroy strongholds or speculations raised up against the knowledge of God and bring every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 10:4-6)!

Beloved believers and followers of Jesus, “don’t copy the behavior and customs of the world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Rom. 12:2 NLT).

Begin your regiment of spiritual exercise today! “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good report, if there is anything excellent and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things” (Phil. 4:8 NASB). So that you will cleanse yourself of dishonorable things and will be “a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, and prepared (in shape) for every good work” (2 Tim. 2:21).