Read 1 Timothy 4:7–16
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.
1 Timothy 4:8
Clergyman and author Phillips Brooks said, “The great purpose of
life—the shaping of character by truth.” Godly character and conduct
are far more important than golf trophies or home-run records, though
it is possible for a person to have both. Paul challenged Timothy to be
as devoted to godliness as an athlete is to his sport.
As an athlete must control his body and obey the rules, so a
Christian must make his body his servant and not his master. When I
see high school football squads and baseball teams going through their
calisthenics under the hot summer sun, I am reminded that there are
spiritual exercises that I ought to be doing (Heb. 5:14). Prayer, meditation, self-examination, fellowship, service, sacrifice, submission to
the will of others, witnessing—all of these can assist me, through the
Spirit, to become a more godly person.
Spiritual exercise is not easy; we must “labour and suffer reproach”
(1 Tim. 4:10 KJV). A Christian who wants to excel must really work at
it, by the grace of God and to the glory of God.
Something to Ponder
What are some of the ways you labor and strive in your spiritual
endeavors?