When I was growing up, I was always a tall, skinny kid. But in 8th grade I started playing football on the middle school team. Over the summer, our coach was trying to get the team in shape. I remember him telling me, “Loren, you need to gain some weight and put on some muscle.” During the summer I was mowing lawns for extra money. I remember begging my mom to take me to K-Mart so I could by some weights to work out. She was kind enough to take me to K-Mart on the condition I would spend my own money and not ask her to buy the weights for me. We walked through the store to the sporting goods section and there they were. 25lb barbells. I just knew they would make me a big strong football player. I had enough money for the purchase and we took them home.That night I worked out as hard as I could. After my workout, I went to the bathroom to look at my muscles. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t see any change. I was so disappointed. My Dad explained that night that in order to build muscle I had to train over a long period of time. It didn’t happen over night.I learned that physical training requires a commitment to discipline. I’ve also learned the same is true in our spiritual lives.1 Timothy 4:7-8 - “…train yourself to be godly. 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.”Paul is writing to a Greek and Roman culture that understood and valued athletic games and competition. They would recognize the value of physical training for these competitions. Paul tells Timothy that the same work and commitment that others put towards physical exercise should be put toward the pursuit of godliness.The word godliness comes from the old English word Godlikeness; it means to have the character and attitude of God.Paul is not saying that bodily exercise has no value. He’s saying it has value.  The idea here can be translated bodily exercise is good for a while, but exercising unto godliness is good for all eternity.Think about it…if you have the goal of getting into good physical shape. There are two requirements: proper diet and the discipline of physical exercise and training. There is no other way. Trust me…I wish there were.The godliness Paul speaks about, this development of Christ-like character requires spiritual nourishment and the discipline of pursuing Jesus. There is no other way.If we neglect our physical health, if we don’t watch our diet, and if we refuse to exercise, well, you and I both know what happens. It’s impossible for us to be healthy.But the real danger comes when we don’t get in shape spiritually. Unless we experience some gain in our relationship with the Lord, we will lack spiritual effectiveness. If we don’t feed our spiritual man, if we don’t train ourselves to be godly, there will be little spiritual growth.But what’s so very important for us to understand is that no matter how much we train ourselves to be godly, we cannot, in ourselves, produce spiritual growth. We are involved in the process, but God is the one who gives the growth.Our focus is on knowing Christ more and more. As we seek Him, as we pursue Him, God blesses by providing the spiritual growth and maturity we need. We practice spiritual disciplines like Scripture reading, prayer, Bible memorization, worship, and more to pursue Christ more. He blesses this pursuit with himself. James says, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.”This pursuit of Jesus is something we must take seriously. It requires our commitment, our discipline, and our surrender to Christ.Today’s Challenge: Consider what you are pursuing in your life. Are you seriously pursuing Jesus? Are you training yourself to be godly? Are you committed to knowing Jesus more everyday? Today is a great day to renew our commitment to growing in Christ-likeness.

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