Becoming Godly

 

My dear Friends,

Which activities constitute our godliness?  Let's take a quick look. I have listed seventeen ways in which godliness is exemplified:

• Prayer (including intercessory prayer [praying for others, nations and governments])
• Word of God/renewing our mind (Bible reading)
• Reading other spirit filled books about God's Word
• Meditation on the Word
• Memorize Scripture
• Acceptable Fasting
• Do good works in all and various forms
• Watchful (of the signs and observing of the times we live in)
• Evangelize, discipleship and witnessing
• Attending Church and Church activities (volunteering)
• Tithing (giving financial support to those who feed us spiritually)
• Sowing (giving from the heart beyond tithing, to the church and to those in need [persons, missionaries, medical missions, and ministries])
• Teaching the Word
• Regularly partaking in the Lord's Supper (Holy Communion)
• Helping (Service to others who need help or helping in the church, volunteering)
• Prophesy (convicting others of sin and their need for God and a Savior)
• Speaking in tongues (If you want to speak in a secret language to God, from your spirit, pray and ask God for the gift of tongues). You might also want to ask God for the interpretation of tongues.

 

The opposite of the godly are the wicked. The wicked grow stupefied, depraved in ways that defy healthy moral judgment, good sense,  and logic, inventing new ways to become wicked, abiding in a cursed agenda, while the godly grow wiser and wiser.  The Holy Spirit leads us to godliness when we yield to the Spirit. If we do not hear the Spirit and go in the opposite direction then we will not be godly, will we? We are godly only in Christ, as we obey Christ. He dwells in each true believer. It is not what we do, but what we do as a child of God, as we were created by God for God.  His desires are our desires. His wants are our wants.

"Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4)

This doesn’t mean that the Lord will give us whatever we want, but it is saying that when we trust in the Lord, He will put His desires in our hearts. This is one of the simplest and most prevalent ways of receiving direction from the Lord. To delight ourselves in the Lord we must purposefully seek Him. To delight in the Lord is to seek His mind and knowledge and His love.  Notice that we are to delight ourselves in the Lord. This doesn’t happen accidentally or automatically.

During Thanksgiving and Christmas we hear about celebrities who go to homeless missions or intercity food kitchens to volunteer, to serve food to the poor.  Is this godly behavior?  Is the person godly?  On the surface it may appear as a form of godliness but if the person is godless, that is, the individual is not a Christian, the act of kindness is not guided by the Spirit of God, God is not involved, then it is not godly. It is a nice thing to do and it is a charitable thing to do, but it cannot be considered godly because God is not involved.  We bring glory to God with our godliness. An unbeliever does not bring glory to God; he has no concept of it. Or perhaps he is like the Pharisees, glorifying himself without a love for God.  Idolaters (followers of false religions and other idol [money, sex, career, etc.]) worshipers are not godly; they cannot be godly; it is impossible for them to be godly, despite what they do, which may appear godly at times. This goes for every non-Christian, because God is not involved. The Holy Spirit is not involved. Who is glory going to if not for God, if not to the Lord?  Perhaps to man and self, and false imaginary gods concocted in the minds of the deceived?

 

Most would agree that clergy, pastors, priests, deacons and monks are seen at godly. Some perceive priests and  monks as godly by observing the clothing they wear (particularly in the Orthodox Church and Catholic Church), their demeanor, and the positions they hold. This can be deceptive in many ways, being observed, superficially as pious, and appearing outwardly spiritual as the Pharisees. A monk, separating himself from the world, studying the Word of God and praying many hours, day and night in a monastery, may appear to most as godly. But living away from the world for many years, I believe, may have turned to ungodliness, perhaps even transformed to selfishness, keeping God to oneself and not sharing or commending Him to the world, which we are commanded to do. There is however, great liberty in the life of a Christian.  If isolation from the world is necessary for a season, then we isolate ourselves. We isolate ourselves to study the Word of God, to pray and to draw God near.  You may feel that I am overreaching or even judgmental when it comes to monks who isolate themselves permanently, but I refer to anybody who physically isolates himself from the world saying "I have had it with this world and the reprobates." We must not lose our specific ministry as believers. Every true believer has a ministry of one kind or another; and it is up to us, individually, to execute our ministry to the best of our ability as guided by the Holy Spirit. 

 

After a period of time, all the First Century apostles and disciples, after their initial training and education by Jesus, and after they received the Holy Spirit and power (at Pentecost), went out into the world to spread the Gospel to every creature and nation.  They (including all believers today) were and are commanded by Jesus to teach, preach, heal the sick, cast out demons and to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  This is godliness in action—First Century discipleship is also Twenty-first Century discipleship.  God does not change; His Word does not change.  "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).  Jesus never commanded anyone to hide themselves away from the world. We may go away for a season to study and draw the Lord near but we do not isolate ourselves from the world indefinitely.  Isolationism is not Scriptural. And we are not commanded to isolate ourselves from the world indefinitely. I do not believe this to be godly behavior.

 

Jesus was not passive. He was not timid. He watched, He listened and He taught the commands of God.  He was godly, public, bold and active, and He commanded all who are chosen, to me aggressive in sharing the Word of God and the Gospel message.  We plant the seeds and the Lord takes it from there. To be godly with the Word, we are persistent with sharing the Gospel and teachings all who seek and want to learn. Yet sadly, many do not seek and do not want to learn.  And this equally applies to professing Christians who have been deceived of the true Jesus and God of the Bible. Lukewarm Christians are in many ways harder to deal with than an unbeliever who is open and curious about learning the truth. Most lukewarm Christians are ungodly.  This means they are working contrary to God's commands. Anyone can say "I am a Christian" and still be a child of the devil. Remember, repentance then faith.  Without repentance there is no faith. I know many who profess "Sure, I am a Christian", yet are in fact, children of the devil, not of God.  "How can you say you love Me when you do not obey my commandments and commend Me to others?"  What kind of a Christian are you? God gave you His Word, the truth and a tongue.  Now use what He has given you. 

 

Well, now I have given you a few things to ponder about godliness. We are commanded to be godly.  We should all have a desire to be godly because it pleases God.  Many might confuse godliness as the same as holiness.  Holiness is a separation from sin. God is holy. This means He is separated from sin, all sin. He has no sin. We are holy in Christ. Godliness is doing that which pleases God. Holiness and godliness go hand-in-hand.  As we conduct ourselves in doing those things which please God, we naturally progress into holiness. As I have said before:  We can be as holy as we want to be and we can be as godly as we want to be.  There is nothing holding us back as the truly born again have the Holy Spirit indwelling in us.  No, not Satan, nor do his demons have a claim on us.  Your carnality can be tamed. The temptations of the flesh is strong but only when God is left out and His Spirit is quenched.  We belong to God. And the devil knows it and he hates us because we love and abide in God.  Satan hates and is fearful of the truly committed Christian.  A godly Christian is a committed Christian. Are you committed?  We are steadfast and watchful. Jesus owns us, and He lives in us if we are truly born again with the Spirit of God.  A committed Christian desires the heart of God and God promises us our heart's desire when our heart's desire Him and His righteousness. Godliness is righteousness and comes from God, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 

One last verse on godliness I would like to share with you, and it comes Paul in 1 Timothy 4:8.  This Scripture deals with health:

 

"For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come."

 

Becoming healthy by physical exercise and trying to be fit is a temporary condition and it "profits little."  Once we stop exercising our body using reverses to its prior state or a worse state than before.  But "godliness it profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come."  What Paul is saying here is that we should not be consumed with the physical condition, but with our spiritual condition, because if we are spiritually connected with God, that is, we are doing His will, we receive the promise of life [and health] now and the life to come.  God gives us health and He heals us.  The Holy Spirit guides us  with moderation in all things (including what we put in our bodies)  that are good for us. You may eat of anything which God has given you, that you receive it in thanksgiving and praise and no deadly thing you eat or drink will harm you [Mark 16:18]. Godliness is not in what you eat or drink or in exercise, for these things are temporary.  Your spirit is eternal, so be godly.  You have been saved by grace not of works [Ephesians 2:8-9].

 

God is pleased when we resist sin and rely on Him. He is also pleased when we do those things which He has command us to do. In godliness, we hear the Lord and do His will, in honor and glory to Him. For He is our God and we are His people. We are the sons of Abraham, grafted into the family. Will you choose godliness?