We will NEVER GET ANYWHERE IN LIFE WITHOUT DISCIPLINE, be it in the arts, business, athletics, or academics. This is doubly so in spiritual matters. In other areas we may be able to claim some innate advantage. An athlete may be born with a strong body, a musician with perfect pitch, or an artist with an eye for perspective. But NONE OF US CAN CLAIM AN INNATE SPIRITUAL ADVANTAGE. In reality, we are all equally disadvantaged. None of us naturally seeks after God, none is inherently righteous, none instinctively does good (cf. Romans 3:9-18).
Therefore, as children of grace, our spiritual discipline is everything — everything! I repeat . . . discipline is everything! This being so, the statement from Paul to Timothy regarding spiritual discipline in 1 Timothy 4:7 — “train yourself to be godly” — takes on not only transcending importance, but personal urgency. There are other passages which teach discipline, but this is the great classic text of Scripture. The word “train” comes from the word gumnos, which means “naked” and is the word from which we derive our English word gymnasium.
In traditional Greek athletic contests, the participants competed without clothing, so as not to be encumbered. Therefore, the word “train” originally carried the literal meaning, “to exercise naked.” By New Testament times it referred to exercise and training in general. But even then it was, and is, a word with the smell of the gym in it — the sweat of a good workout. “Gymnasticize (exercise, work out, train) yourself for the purpose of godliness” conveys the feel of what Paul is saying.
Evangelist Eric Musa:
(My message continuously: If you are not saved: Believe, accept, receive and confess Christ Jesus as your Lord and Saviour and be filled with the Holy Spirit, as it is written; “NOW is the acceptable time, TODAY is the day of SALVATION.- 2 Cor 6:2”. For prayers and devotion, call Evangelist Musa on +254722157300 , and Email: EMEA.ericmusa@gmail.com , Remember ,more than I, God Loves you unconditionally, perfectly and always: SHALOM
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