To discipline yourself for godliness means saying “No” to old habits and ways, and replacing those ways with new ways… new ways that are made by following Christ and obedience to His Word. The Holy Spirit enables a believer to put off the old man and put on the new man.
An amazing thing happened to me, actually this truly amazing thing happens to all Christians when we decide to get serious about God and adjust our lives towards Him… living godly becomes so natural to us that we don’t even have to think about where to begin anymore. We just do it. This is the way our Creator has made us.
Think about this… It’s your first time sitting behind the steering wheel. You think to yourself, “Here is a steering wheel, and here is a gear shift, and here is a really complex instrument panel, and foot pedals down below. I have to learn how to use and manage all of these things. And at the same time I have to keep my eyes on the road; pay attention to signs, pedestrians, traffic lights, etc. Can I ever do this? How am I going to do this? Yet billions of people do.” Now, after a little time and much practice, you just slide into that same car and someone comes along for the ride with you. You turn on the motor, shift the gears (or an Automatic Transmission), back out of the driveway, and head on down the road, all while arguing where you’re going to go for dinner! What an amazing feat! You’ve learned to perform a highly complex behavior UNCONSCIOUSLY! And how did you learn? You learned by practice… disciplined practice. It has become second nature to you. Scripture speaks so clearly about this…
“For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.” Hebrews 5: 13-14
The writer of Hebrews reprimanded the Hebrew Christians because although they received a great deal of the teaching of God’s Word, they had not profited from it because they had not used it. He says that everyone who partakes “only of milk” hardly knows a thing about righteousness, for they are babies. But “solid food” is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern between good and evil. To end today’s post… If we practice what God tells us to do, the godly/obedient life will be ours. No way around that.