September 6

But reject irreverent, silly myths. Instead, train yourself for godliness. — 1 Tim 4:7 BSB

“The Lord tests the righteous” (Ps. 11:5). In fact, a righteous life is often a life of trials. There isn’t a child of God whose spiritual qualities are lively and active who isn’t tried in their soul. I believe as strongly in the necessity of spiritual exercise as I do in the necessity of physical exercise for the body. The more the soul is exercised, the healthier it becomes. And trials are a key source of that exercise. If you’re being tested about your standing before God, your spiritual state, the reality of God’s grace at work in your soul, your experiences, or your deliverances and evidences, or if you’re being tried by your own sins, by Satan, by those who profess to follow Christ, by unbelievers, or—above all—by your own heart, and this happens continually, it will keep your soul active. This is what it means to exercise yourself toward godliness.

If these exercises lead you to godliness, they will guide you toward it and bring you nearer to it, eventually bringing godliness into your soul. This is the true exercise of the soul toward godliness. Don’t you sometimes feel as though there’s not a trace of godliness in your heart? You understand what godliness looks like—its nature, its fruit, its qualities, and the marks of a true Christian, both outwardly and inwardly, in the church and in the world. And you might say, “Am I truly a Christian? Am I a godly person? Let me compare myself with what godliness is.”

When you examine yourself, you might ask, “Do I live, speak, think, act, and walk like a Christian? Is my conduct—whether in family, in business, in the church, or in private—consistent with real, scriptural godliness?” You might shrink back from this test, knowing that many things about you, both inside and out, fall short of that standard. But these concerns are a sign that your mind is being exercised. And what’s the result? It’s an exercise toward godliness. You seek it, strive for it, cry out for it, and chase after it. You know that only the Lord can work it in your soul, and you feel poor, needy, and empty without it. You realize that without godliness, you can neither live happily nor die peacefully, yet you know you must have it or perish.