Training For Godliness - The One Year Praying through the Bible for Your Kids

“Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.” This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it. This is why we work hard and continue to struggle, for our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people and particularly of all believers. 1 Timothy 4:8-10

FROM THEIR EARLIEST DAYS, it is impressed on our kids that if they want to be physically fit, if they want to be able to hit a ball harder, kick a ball longer, or run a race faster, then they have to work at it and train for it. Evidently that was understood even in the days when Paul wrote this letter to Timothy. But Paul was encouraging believers to train for something that had benefits far beyond a healthier body or a winner’s trophy in the here and now. He wanted believers to train for something that would have benefits into eternity. While physical training has some short-term, limited benefit, training in godliness matters now and forever.

So while we encourage our kids to stay physically fit, we want much more for them. We want to encourage them in their training for godliness so that their spiritual muscles will grow rather than become flabby as they age. We encourage them to pump iron as they persist in understanding who God is and conforming their lives to his character, refusing to stop the effort when they feel the burn. As they train for godliness, an inner strength will grow so that they will not be so easily taken in by the latest spiritual fad and not so easily shaken when the winds of difficulty blow in their lives. They will become more likely to embrace God’s promise and preach the truth to themselves rather than listen to themselves.

Lord, I pray for ________ to be rigorous in training for godliness. As ________ works hard and continues to struggle at times, I pray that ________ would see fruit from the effort —that she is becoming more patient than she used to be, more self-sacrificial, more receptive to conviction, quicker to forsake a bad attitude, less likely to be easily offended, and less interested in passing along the story that will hurt someone else’s reputation. Plant ________’s hopes firmly in the living God who will prove true on his promises of the life to come.