Train Yourself to be Godly

INTRODUCTION

(1 Timothy Series Slide)

Good morning! My name is David Sorn, and I’m the Lead Pastor here at Renovation Church.

Have you ever been driving around, and you notice something wrong with your car, but you don’t go and get it fixed?

I’ve been driving the same car for 11 years now, and I’ve had this crack in the windshield probably for about 5 years.

And it just keeps growing.

And yet, for some reason, I have still done nothing about it.

Honestly, I don’t even really notice it anymore.

But whenever someone new gets in my car, they say, “Whoa! That thing is going to like break and half and then cut you in half!”

So why haven’t I fixed it?

If I were to psychoanalyze my motivations in front of you all.

I’d say it’s probably something like:

“I’m too busy”

“It’ll never really break”

Or, “I’ll just leave it until it really becomes a problem”

And in reality, a lot of us live life like this…even our spiritual lives.

We know there are cracks and issues, and honestly, we most likely know some of the ways to fix them…

but we continue to not change our ways, and we probably won’t, until something significantly worse happens.

So what do we do about that?

Thankfully, we’re going to get answers in the Bible today. Let’s take a look!

WHAT ARE YOU FEEDING ON?

1 Timothy 4:6

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We are continuing to teach through 1 Timothy in the Bible this morning.

You know sometimes when people think of Bible teaching churches, they think, “Oh, those are the ones where the messages are always really heady…with lots of info.”

And some churches do teach that way every week…

But I’ve always felt that when you truly teach the Bible, not every passage is heavy on just deep theology.

And that’s because the Bible itself is quite varied in its genres.

Some passages, and therefore messages, are more emotional

Some are more inspirational

Some are deeply intellectual or theological

And some, like today’s passage, are just really practical.

And so I believe that good Bible teaching is ALL of those things because that’s what the actual Bible is!

Let’s take a look.

(1 Timothy 4:6) – NIV

If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed.

(Train Yourself to be Godly)

Verse 6 is a bit of a bridge from our passage last week to this week.

Paul is telling Timothy that if he teaches the people in his church to watch out for False Teachers, he will be a good minister of Christ.

And then Paul says that Timothy (and by extension his listeners) should be nourished on the truths of the faith and good teaching.

And I think a good question for us today is what are we being nourished on?

Or, we might say, “What are we feeding on? Consuming?

Check out these stats from the latest studies this year:

The Average American Spends:

2-3 hours per day on social media

3-4 hours per day on “TV” (traditional/streaming/YouTube)

So even if you’re an AVERAGE American, you’re spending 6 hours a day (a DAY!) on social media and watching some sort of video content.

And we wonder why we’re all going crazy as a society!

I think we have to start asking ourselves this question: What are we living for?

If the Bible says in verse 6 that we should be “nourished on the truths of the faith…,” are we?

Or are we living off of something else?

And if you don’t know,… you can do a little reverse investigation and find out what you’re living for.

In fact, I challenge everyone in this room to actually audit their time this week.

That is…to track how you spend your waking hours for 7 days.

And then ask yourself, “What is it that I’m really living for?”

But most of us won’t want to do that!

In fact, probably 98% of you won’t take me up on that challenge.

Mostly because we don’t want to know the truth.

But just because we don’t want to look at the truth doesn’t change the fact that it IS the truth.

And this is important to think about it because:

How we spend our time IS what we are living for.

How we spend our time IS what shapes our character, and who we are.

So this is a big deal.

TRAIN YOURSELF TO BE GODLY

Let’s keep reading in our passage

1 Timothy 4:7-9

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(1 Timothy 4:7-9) – NIV

7 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. 8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 9 This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance.

(Train Yourself to be Godly)

So Paul says that Christ-followers are to train themselves to be Godly.

And he means TRAIN.

In fact, the Greek word here that’s used for “train” (NT written in Greek) is actually

Gymnasia

… which as you can probably guess is where we get our word gymnasium from.

So if you’re going to grow in your relationship with God, and grow in Godliness (as Paul says), you’re going to have to train.

In the Christian world we call these Christian training methods, “Spiritual Disciplines”

They are things like

Spiritual Disciplines:

Bible reading

Prayer

Fasting

Silence & Solitude

Memorizing Scripture

Generosity

Community

Sabbath

And there are certainly more.

But these are disciplines.

They take work, focus, and intentionality to actually do them.

None of them are going to just “happen” on their own

But if you don’t practice the disciplines, you can’t grow in your faith.

Living a great Christian life without daily training is like an athlete expecting to play well without ever practicing.

If you think about some of greatest NBA players to ever play the game (Steph Curry, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan)…

…What do people say about them?

They always say that they were always the first person in the gym…and the last to leave.

They’re working on their game when no one’s watching.

It’s the same with the mature Christian.

In his classic book, “Spiritual Disciplines of the Christian Life,” (which you can find in our digital library), Don Whitney says,

“I can say that I’ve NEVER known a man or woman who came to spiritual maturity except through discipline. Godliness comes through discipline” – Don Whitney

You cannot thrive as a Christian if you are not spending time with Christ

Just as one cannot thrive in a marriage if they’re not spending time with their spouse

WE NEED A VISION

But if we’re going to do what Paul says, and we’re going to TRAIN ourselves to be Godly, there are some things we need to know about HOW to train.

In fact, I’ll give you five of them today (write these down & your own plan, as we go)

Here’s the first one:

5 Things We Need to Train Ourselves to be Godly

#1: We need a Vision

Most people skip this step. And they just jump right into task mode…or worse yet, guilt mode.

And they say, “All right, pastor, I’ll start reading the Bible again tonight”

But listen, discipline has to have a direction.

Do you know why most kids quit playing the piano?

They have no sense of direction, no vision.

Go ahead and ask a kid, “Why are you learning the piano???”

Most won’t even know what to say.

Or they’ll say, “Cuz my mom said I should.”

Or, cuz “It’ll help me be musical…whatever that means.”

But what if you could somehow transport that kid to the future and show them themselves playing in front of thousands of people at a concert? Or even helping to lead worship in church someday?

Then…they would have a VISION that would compel them to train.

This is in part why I think a lot more kids stick with sports.

They have a vision for it…they’ve seen NFL players on TV, and they think, “That could be me!”

(Now, that’s probably not a realistic vision, but a vision that compels them to train nonetheless!)

And similarly, our discipline needs a direction…it needs a vision.

Why are you going to start reading the Bible again? Or praying when you wake up in the morning? WHY are you attending House Church this year?

Our discipline needs to have a direction.

Most people, when they think about reading the Bible, or praying, or doing another spiritual discipline from that earlier list…most people don’t have a reason beyond, “I should.”

But “I should” is not very motivating.

The people who say, “I should exercise,” are the same people that never do exercise.

Paul gives us some vision in verse 8. Let’s read it again

8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

Godliness, living like Christ, isn’t just about obedience and denying the self…

…Paul says it has Value for all things

And not just in this life, but in your life on the new heaven & new earth as well.

And my friend, there is great value in Godliness.

When you put intentional effort into spending time with God every day, He will indeed begin to Renovate you.

And make you new and more like Him.

Galatians 5 says that God will grow the Fruit of the Spirit in your life as you spend time in the vine (that’s John 15)

That means more things like Love, and peace, and patience and gentleness…

All things we need.

But the greatest way to grow that sort of character in your life, and obtain that sort of peace, is by walking on the path of the spiritual disciplines and training yourself to be Godly.

And it’s worth it…because it has value for the afterlife as well.

Whereas your riches here, won’t matter for the next trillion years.

Neither will your looks or your physical fitness

But your Godliness will

So have a vision for what God can do in your life and the next one.

WE NEED A TIME

The second thing we need is:

5 Things We Need to Train Ourselves to be Godly

#1: We need a vision

#2: We need a time

If you’re going to start any new habit or get back into one…you have to have a TIME for when you’re going to do it.

For a lot of people, meeting with God is the first thing they do when they wake up.

I know many people who say, “I won’t touch my phone until I’ve met with God”

That’s not a bad idea.

For others, it’s on their commute.

Some do it at lunch

Some before bed.

I know everybody’s schedule is really different, but pick a time, and then make it as consistent as you possibly can.

The only thing that won’t work is if you say, “I don’t do a set time, I just talk to God along the way in my day”

9 times out of 10 that ends up being an excuse for not meeting with God.

It’s like saying, “yeah, I lift weights, just throughout my day, when I pick up my laptop and workbag, and lift up YETI at my desk, etc.”

Just like you wouldn’t build muscle that way, you won’t build spiritual muscle training yourself to be Godly in a similar manner.

Listen, I’ve read a lot of Christian biographies, and every giant of faith in Christian history had a SET TIME they met with God.

AND, yes, they also worked to seek the presence of God throughout the day, but they still had a time.

And truthfully, it’s that SET TIME that builds the foundation that compels you to want to seek God throughout the day.

WE NEED A PLACE

And thirdly….

5 Things We Need to Train Ourselves to be Godly

#1: We need a vision

#2: We need a time

#3: We need a place

Where are you going to do this?

And again, I’d encourage you to start writing down your plan for when and where…even as I speak…don’t delay!

As soon as you write your goals down, and even better, share it with someone else, the chances of you meeting those goals goes WAY up

But where are you going to do this?

Kneeling by your bed in the morning?

At the table at breakfast?

In a chair in a particular room

On a walk during lunch?

It doesn’t matter where you do it, but find a dedicated place to meet with God.

A couple of years ago, I read the biography of the famous pastor & author, A.W. Tozer, and when he was a young man, living in a crowded house, he found a small corner behind the furnace in his family’s basement, and he would go there every morning, and meet with God.

Your place doesn’t need to be awe-inspiring (it’s fine if it is), but mostly, just find a place, and make it your spot to meet with God.

WE NEED A PLAN

And fourthly:

5 Things We Need to Train Ourselves to be Godly

#1: We need a vision

#2: We need a time

#3: We need a place

#4: We need a plan

When you sit down to meet with God, what will you do?

How will you structure your prayer?

Where are you going to read in the Bible?

And for how long?

Will you include other spiritual disciplines?

I want to urge you to not bite off more than you can chew

It makes me think of the first race I ever ran, which was a 5k years ago.

A 5k is a little over 3 miles, and there was this 9 year old kid lined up in front of me (and a 9 year old can run a 5k if they train, so I was trying not to judge)

But the gun went off, and he took off in full sprint…and about 3 blocks in…he was done.

Some of us do that.

We say, “I’m going to go start reading the Bible again!”

And we set a goal to read 10 chapters a day…and by day 4, we’ve already quit.

Maybe start with 1 chapter?

Or use a Bible reading plan

In the Bible Tab of our App (or out at the Welcome Table) you can find two Reading Plans that I made for our church years ago

Like one that has you read the 100 most important chapters in the Bible in 100 days

Or our Bible Pyramid that starts you with the easiest books of the Bible first.

So I encourage to you to pick a time, pick a place, and get a plan for what you will read and do.

WE NEED TO START

And finally:

5 Things We Need to Train Ourselves to be Godly

#1: We need a vision

#2: We need a time

#3: We need a place

#4: We need a plan

#5: We need to start

You just have to start.

Way too often I’ll hear people say something like, “I want to do this…I know I need to do this, but I’m just not really in a good place right now (or life is crazy right now), so I’m going to wait until my heart feels more ready for it”

Let me tell you this: our culture has become way too obsessed with our intentions.

Is it ideal to have a heart that feels ready to start?

Sure

But it’s definitely not necessary.

If you spend your life waiting to have the perfect intentions before you act on something, you’re going to watch your life pass you by.

That’s like people saying, “I’d like to start exercising, but I’m just not honestly excited about running 2 miles on the treadmill”

Listen, no one is ever excited to run on the treadmill. Ever.

And if they are, something’s wrong with them.

But running on the treadmill is still worth it!

I’ve been a runner for over 15 years now, and I’ve had my fair share of injuries where I can’t run for a while, including the last 3 months, which is really frustrating.

I’ve had to restart running again….probably 7 or 8 times in the last 15 years.

And I will tell you the hardest thing is getting out there again, the 1st day.

It’s still hard to lace up your shoes and go running the 2nd day, but a little bit easier than the 1st day.

And the third day is even easier than the 2nd day…and so on and so forth.

And by the time you’ve exercised 4 or 5 times, you have a new habit again.

It might even be harder to skip it than to do it.

But it is worth it.

And remember, we’re talking about meeting with God…not running on a treadmill.

We’re talking about reading God’s Word.

In the midst of all of our social media obsession, and streaming, and fixation on the news…I think we’ve forgotten how incredible it is that we have access to the Word of God…and that we can read it every day.

And so I actually just want close my message by showing you a video of a people group in Indonesia getting the Bible in their language for the very first time.

Because I want not just your brain to prepare for spiritual disciplines and God’s Word, I want your heart to want it again.

(West Papua Video)

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