On any given day, you can drive by a gym, and they'll have the clear windows filled with all kinds of people working out, training, and getting in shape. And they're on display because... well, we all feel like we should be doing it, right?

So why don't we?

Some of us don't think there's enough value. Some of us have tried it before and hurt ourselves because we didn't know what we were doing. Some of us just can't seem to make the time. And some of us started but couldn't keep going... we just lost hope of change.

The pursuit of godliness ("training for godliness", as Paul calls it) is similar. We need a target. We need motivation. We need guidance. And... we need hope that will carry us through when we inevitably fail.

This week, we'll look at 1 Timothy 4:6-10 and see how the Apostle Paul speaks to Timothy and instructs him on how to train for godliness.

We've seen the imitation of godliness, and we want to avoid its pitfalls. But how do we get to the real thing?

Series: The Good Fight (1 Timothy)
Julian Freeman
Message: 11 – Train Yourself for Godliness
Harvest Bible Chapel
Text: 1 Timothy 4:6-10
July 6, 2025

As I aim for godliness, I need...

... to be trained in the gospel (v. 6–7a)

Worldliness is whatever any culture does to make sin seem normal and righteousness to be strange. When we imbibe the Zeitgeist (the spirit of the age) of worldliness, then we feel strange trying to think Christianly and to act according to the Bible’s mandates. That is, when we think the world’s thoughts after it and do not think God’s thoughts after him, we will not be motivated to do the things that God wants us to do, but we will only feel comfortable acting in a manner that fits into the world’s way of doing things. That is why Christians who cease going to church begin to feel more and more comfortable in the world and less and less comfortable in the church. For the same reason, this is why regular attendance at church is so important. At church we worship by hearing God’s Word, praising God, praying, partaking of the Lord’s Supper and fellowshipping, all of which encourages believers and convinces them that they indeed are the ones who are normal and that the world is strange before God’s eyes.
GK Beale, We Become What We Worship

... to work hard because of the gospel (v. 7b–9)

2 Peter 1:3-5

... to hope on the God of the gospel (v. 10)

1 Peter 1:13-15

1 John 3:2-3