Paul tells us in I Timothy to pursue godliness with an unrelenting and persevering effort. Titus 2:11-13 tells us to live godly lives and in Titus 1:1 Paul states his whole mission as one to help believers lead a godly life!
Obviously displaying godliness is important for believers. But what does godliness really mean?
It’s probably easier to define what it’s NOT first.
Godliness is not simply Christian characteristics. When Paul is encouraging the New Testament world to pursue godliness and Peter states in 2 Peter 1:3 “we have everything we need for life and godliness”, he isn’t necessarily talking about character traits.
Godliness is more of a personal attitude or devotion toward God resulting in actions that are pleasing to God.
This devotion isn’t simply an emotion or feeling but a life that is centered and focused on God.
Pitfalls when pursuing godliness
But we all struggle with this concept at times. Often we try to develop godliness by working on our outward character without taking the time to develop a God-centered devotion about our life. Or walking with God has become familiar and a daily routine and not a God-centered devotion and intimate relationship.
But godliness is different. Godliness can be defined as devotion to God which results in a life that is pleasing to him.
But devotion to God can be hard! Really really hard. It’s difficult to continue to engage your mind and focus your attention on God as you walk through daily life.
But it’s possible. And here’s a simple way to start.
Ways to pursue godliness in your life today
First, read through the list below of various spiritual disciplines and choose 1-3 that you would like to start practicing this week.
What are spiritual disciplines? They are simple practices you see throughout scripture that put you in a position to hear from and be changed by God. There are a huge variety of spiritual disciplines. A few to choose from are:
- Silence & Solitude
- Service
- Simplicity
- Confession
- Worship
- Celebration
- Meditation
- Prayer
- Study
Second, fill in your info at the bottom of this post to get a pdf of the image below sent to your inbox.
The handout has specific suggestions for how to practice each discipline in your daily life.
Third, read the suggested ways to practice on the handout and make a plan to begin.
Under each discipline listed on the handout, there are 2-3 suggestions on how to immediately begin practicing this discipline.
Fourth, take the time to incorporate spiritual disciplines into your life!
Creating a daily plan will help you be successful as you seek to implement new habits into your life. Try first thing in the morning or during your lunch break. Feel free to start slow as you work to rearrange your life around seeking God.
We all want to be godly, but it takes some effort on our part. Take this opportunity today to begin practicing the spiritual disciplines by printing out the handout and following the suggestions. I promise as you put yourself in a position to hear from God, he will begin to transform you from the inside out.
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Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
Hi Kari, thank you for your post. I love the ideas you suggest for cultivating each spiritual discipline. Simplicity is one that I haven’t seen included often but I find very valuable and meaningful. Bless you.
I don’t see it included often either but definitely one I find useful to practice!
I agree, that godliness is living a life that flows out devotion to God. When we practice this intimacy with God, when we meet with him 1-2-1 in our prayer times and through other spiritual disciplines, his Spirit transforms us from the inside out into Christ’s image.
Amen! I love that description of transformation!
Thank you so much for this helpful tool and the practical encouragement to practice the spiritual disciplines. Sometimes we make it way more complicated than it needs to be!
I really enjoyed this post and the list of ways to pursue godliness. Very important to take it one step at a time and I appreciate how you said to choose just a few for each week to practice doing.
Enjoyed this reminder of all the ways I can pursue godliness by taking the time to meet with God. Spiritual disciplines are exactly that disciplines. But as we take the time to do them we will reap the rewards.
Thanks for sharing about the importance of pursuing godliness. We must seek it daily to keep it alive and fresh within us. Thanks
This is a really good list of spiritual disciplines. I honestly always thought of godliness as “traits”. Thanks for this.
Love the printable outlining practical “how-to’s”, or spiritual disciplines, for growing in our fellowship with God and thereby developing godliness. I always appreciate being given the HOW along with the WHAT. Blessings!
Beautiful well written post! I love how you say Godliness is an attitude or devotion to God. The print out is a very helpful tool too!
Great encouragement to put ourselves in the position to hear from God and such practical ways to make sure we’re planning and following through. Thanks for this comprehensive post & excellent resource!
This was a timely reminder. Thank you for sharing!
I really like your simple PDF of the spiritual disciplines. The times I’ve included Simplicity are the times I hear God the most, so nothing else gets in the way or interferes with what He’s trying to show me. Great reminders!
I appreciate how you helped to clear up what godliness is NOT before giving the true definition. When I was younger, so much emphasis was placed on how I was supposed to live outwardly instead of devoting my inward life to God. Thank you!
Hi, Kari! Thank you so much for this wonderful post on pursuing godliness through spiritual disciplines! It is truly helpful in deepening our walk with God. Thank you and God bless you!
Love this Kari! I love how you said godliness can be defined as devotion to God which results in a life that is pleasing to him. When I focus on becoming more godly myself, I get nowhere and can actually sometimes be focusing on pleasing other people. But when I live my life devoted to God, my behavior becomes more pleasing to Him. That is where real change happens. Love this post!