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Intention

To draw near to Jesus, our architect of godly character, and partner with Him in training ourselves in godliness.

Scripture

“Train yourself in godliness. For the training of the body has limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”

– 1 Timothy 4:7–8

Reflection

I often find myself in a rush to get to the ‘next thing’. As a product of the ‘instant generation’ that expects things done now, not later, the concept of patience and going along for the journey can seem a little foreign.

When it comes to living with sexual integrity – or any other issue of godly living – it’s appealing to look for a ‘magic bullet’ solution by which every difficult temptation is easily banished and testing situations are handled with relative ease.

I don’t need to tell you that life doesn’t work that way.

The Scripture is completely down-to-earth and truthful when it teaches about how to grow our character and live godly lives.

Paul says, “Train yourself” (1 Timothy 4:7).

Godliness takes repeated diligence and effort. There are no quick-fix answers. No instant microwave solutions.

The fact of the matter is that character must be formed. It cannot be imparted.

When we consider Jesus, we find exactly the same situation. The author of Hebrews tells us that Jesus, “the pioneer of our salvation”, was made “perfect through sufferings” (Hebrews 2:10).

Let that sink in for a moment. The sinless, perfect One needed to be “made perfect through suffering”!

Hebrews means, of course, that Jesus’ character – as a man – needed to be formed and fashioned. Why? Because character cannot simply be imparted. In fact, the author states that “it was entirely appropriate that God” would use suffering as the tool to fashion character in His Son (Hebrews 2:10).

Despite His immense sufferings and temptations, He never sinned (Hebrews 4:15). Each trial fortified His will and made Him stronger and more resilient. As our “pioneer” (the Greek word is archegos, from which we obtain words such as ‘architect’), Jesus provides the blueprint for training ourselves to be godly.

He knows our struggles and temptations. He knows our weaknesses. He sympathises with us, because He knows (far more than we do) what it is like to “suffer when he was tempted” (Hebrews 2:18).

Let us draw near to the One who trained Himself to be godly. Let us partner with His training in this great journey of faith. He has begun our race. He will help us complete it (Hebrews 12:2; 2 Timothy 4:7).

Godliness is infinitely beneficial “for the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:8). By completing our good fight of faith, the righteous Judge and Lord will give us “the crown of righteousness” “on that day” (2 Timothy 4:8).

This is the infinitely precious eternal reward for all those who “train themselves to be godly”.

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Prayer

Heavenly Father,

We ask for fresh grace and mercy this day, as we choose to fight the good fight once again.

Give us wisdom and understanding to deal with temptations and sufferings so that our character is formed and fashioned more like the character of Your Son. We humbly yield to Him and fix our eyes on Him, so that we overcome temptation just as He overcame it.

We choose to draw near to Him right now, holding fast to the promise that our architect of godliness will draw near to us (James 4:8).

Amen.

Author Bio

Samuel lives with his wife and three young children in South Australia. He is fascinated by the impact of worldview and enjoys exploring the links between faith to every area of life. He has a background in the biological and geological sciences, and ministry and theology.

Prayer Points and Purpose for October 2024

1. Revival and restoration of sexual integrity to renew the individual, revitalise marriages, restore families and protect children. Hebrews 13:4
2. Revival, repentance and reformation of Australia. 2 Chronicles 7:14
3. Revival, repentance and reformation of America. 2 Chronicles 7:14
4. The Lamb that was slain may receive a reward for His suffering. Revelation 5:12

We invite you to support this prayer campaign by ordering your FREE copy of Break Through: 15 Keys to Supernatural Breakthrough, a book on prayer written by Warwick Marsh. Reading this book will multiply the effectiveness of your prayers. You can make a donation to the Canberra Declaration to help pay it forward and bless someone else to receive a free copy of Break Through.

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