Pastor's Corner: Godliness training

Here it is, February already! I wonder how folks are doing with their new year's resolutions as they apply to physical training/exercise? I also wonder if followers of Christ have made some resolutions with regards to godliness training? The Apostle Paul makes an interesting statement in his letter to his young pastor protege, Timothy. Paul writes:

1 Timothy 4:8: "For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come." Wait a minute! Did Paul really communicate that? Yes, he did. The Apostle Paul tells us that this godliness training is:

1) of value in every way; 2) holds promise for this present life; and 3) also for the life to come. If this statement is true (and it is), then perhaps we should be giving more attention to godliness training - at least as much time, effort, and energy as we give physical training.

When a person is a new believer in Christ, the Apostle Peter refers to them as a "babe in Christ." Peter writes in 1 Peter 2:1-3: "Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious."

We start as babes in Christ, but we certainly are not to stay that way. Spiritual maturity is definitely a journey, not a destination. Again, the Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:14-15: "... that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head - Christ." I am encouraging you to set a 2024 goal of committing to spiritual habits that will help us experience God and grow into spiritual maturity. This is godliness training.

Paul further encourages us in Romans 6:19 (Phillips): - "In the past you voluntarily gave your bodies to the service ... and ... the purposes of evil. So now give yourselves to the service of righteousness - for the purpose of becoming truly good."

As we train to be godly, some of the spiritual habits others and I want to practice are:

Experiencing God through his word (The Bible);

Experiencing God through prayer;

Experiencing God through spirit-filled living;

Experiencing God through tithing;

Experiencing God through study with others.

Other spiritual habits that I practice include:

The Practice of Celebration; The Practice of "Slowing;" The Practice of Servanthood; The Practice of Confession; and The Practice of Receiving Guidance from the Holy Spirit.

There are other spiritual habits that will help our churches to become a great, contagious churches: reaching the lost (non-followers of Jesus); experiencing signs. Miracles and wonders, and utilizing the power the name of Jesus.

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Written by the Rev. Edroy "Curt" Curtis, president of the Greater Havre Area Ministerial Association, lead pastor of the Havre Assembly of God Church.