“Train yourself to be godly.” 1 Timothy 4:7

Our spiritual walk is compared to physical training more than once in the Bible. In fact, in 2 Timothy, Paul said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

Now, I’m not a person who enjoys going to the gym. I’m a bookworm. Let me read about people doing physical activities while I sit in a nice, cool, air-conditioned room with a nice cup of ice-cold water. But if I wanted to do something very out of character like, start running, I wouldn’t be able to just hop up and immediately be great at it. I would have to train.

In case you were wondering, training is not all rainbows and butterflies. I recently injured my knee. It was a freak accident at church of all places, and for the past month I’ve had to deal with one type of brace or another. When it was finally time to do physical training, I was not prepared for how painful it was going to be. I hadn’t used those muscles in weeks, but before then I had used them my entire life. I thought it was going to be easy! Pain-free!

The saying, “No pain, no gain” is a saying for a reason, my friend.

Thankfully I have a pretty amazing physical therapist, and she encourages me to push past the pain because if I didn’t, those muscles would never grow stronger, and this injury would just repeat itself down the road.

The same can be said for our spiritual training. If our spiritual “muscles” become weak from lack of use, then that training for them to grow stronger must begin with small steps - like creating a prayer habit and accepting my challenge to find someone to pray with you. We must begin to train that muscle gradually and may benefit from the guidance of a friend or mentor.

The more we train our spiritual “muscles,” the more we will be prepared for those spells and slumps when our daily time with God feels like a struggle or we simply just don’t feel like praying. There will be days when we all struggle, and that’s okay. What’s not okay is giving up and letting that muscle atrophy, or waste away.

Reflection:

• Which of your spiritual muscles are weak from lack of use?
• What small steps of training can you begin to take to strengthen your spiritual muscles?

Family Content: 1 Timothy 4

By: Carrington Stuart

• Today, we’re reading a passage from the book of 1 Timothy again! This passage talks about telling others about Jesus. The Bible says that some people will say that they know about Jesus, but they don’t tell the truth about Him. That’s why it’s so important to know the truth about Jesus so we can share it with others!
• It’s our job to tell others the truth about Jesus. Some people in the world don’t want others to know about Him so they tell lies about Jesus. These lies say Jesus doesn’t love us or want good things for us, and we know that those things are not true!
• By telling others the truth about Jesus, it shows Jesus that we have faith in Him! We’re not supposed to be a part of anything that makes Jesus seem silly or unimportant. We’re supposed to make sure that we are always showing others the love of Jesus with the words that we say and the things that we do!
• Guess what? Just because you aren’t a grown-up doesn’t mean that you can’t teach others about Jesus. He wants you to tell EVERYBODY about Him - old people, young people, and even people who have taught you about Jesus! You can talk about Him with anybody. You should never be afraid to tell others about Jesus! You never know who will decide to get to know Jesus because of you, and that’s so special.
• How can you learn more about the truth of Jesus this week so you can tell others? Who can you encourage this week and tell them that Jesus loves them? Who can you talk about Jesus with this week?
• Prayer: God, thank You for teaching me the truth about Jesus and giving us the Bible to read. I know that some people don’t know the truth about You, and I want to teach them! Help me to always be a good example to others and show them how much You love them. I never want to be afraid to tell people about Jesus, even if I’m young! I want to keep learning more about You every day. Thank you, God. We love You! In Jesus’ name, Amen.