At the conception of life we become a fetus and grow till we are old enough to enter the world outside of the confines of our mother. From that time on we grow up, each day learning and experiencing new things until we are able to start accepting responsibilities. Eventually we turn eighteen and are faced with the realization that we are to be a man. Our time of preparation is over and we must take full responsibility of ourselves.
God does not just call us to be a man, but He calls us to be a godly man. 1 Timothy 4:7-8 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. Being a godly man is much more than our earthly age. We can lay in that casket without ever being what God has called us to be. We shouldn't be mannequins who are just an image and figure of what the world says a man is. The world has a "perfect" image of what a man should be, but it's all based on how the outside looks. He should be muscular, well-dressed, have money, girls, and nice cars, but on the inside, he's hollow. We should be real men who love the Lord and deeply desire Him above all other things.
The big question is; What is a godly man?
I. A godly man loves the Lord his God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. Mark 12:30 (Speaking of the greatest commandment) Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
II. A godly man is constant in repentance with humility knowing it's not by His power He reaches godliness. Matthew 5:20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
III. A godly man strives to become just like Christ and live like Him. 1 John 2:6 Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
IV. A godly man seeks the Lord's wisdom in all things through reading the Bible, meditation, and
prayer. Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; Proverbs 2:6 For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
V. A godly man humbly serves God wholeheartedly, going wherever He calls. A godly man is after God's own heart, he doesn't live out his own will, but the Father's will for his life. 1 John 2:16-17 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
From my research I found these five points to be a basic template for how a godly man lives out his life. However, I can't just tell you what a godly man is and leave you with that, but I will try to show you how these five different actions are applied in life.
I. Your heart is your emotions and deepest desires, its what creates the reasons for your action or inaction. If you love the Lord your God with all your heart that means that you are completely infatuated with Him, your utmost desire, what is there in your heart is to serve him.
The soul I'm still working on figuring out what it is, but I do know that your soul is everything your body is not. Your soul is merely connected to your body till you die and depart from your human frame. Your soul is alive when it is in Christ, it is dead when it is in the clutches of death because of sin. To love God with all of your soul you must give it to Him. He is to be the one in control of your soul.
Your mind is what is in charge of all things that you do, it contemplates, solves, and makes decisions. If your whole heart loves God, your brain is then what contemplates and decides to put that love and desire to serve Him into commands for your body to fulfill.
Your strength is your muscles and all your physical abilities. When you love God with all your strength you are using all your physical abilities to serve Him.
All of theses different parts are separate, but they all influence each other and are connected in some way. Your heart puts emotion behind who is in control of your soul and what your mind contemplates and decides. Lastly you mind is what controls your body movements. So ultimately what loving the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength is loving Him with all that you have, all-of-you.
II. Repentance of our own sin is very important because we must die to ourselves to live for Christ. We must die to sin for God to come in an give us His righteousness. Submitting ourselves to the authority of Christ in our lives is a big part of growing in godliness. Without repentance and humility before God, how can He come into our lives and start shaping us to be more like Him? We've got to humbly give ourselves up to Christ accepting Him as our redeemer, our salvation, our King, and we must die to our sin in repentance and live as the Holy Spirit leads, presenting our bodies and everything we have to God the Father in ultimate sacrifice living out our love for God. Then God can start to shape and refine us in His Godliness.
God does not just call us to be a man, but He calls us to be a godly man. 1 Timothy 4:7-8 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. Being a godly man is much more than our earthly age. We can lay in that casket without ever being what God has called us to be. We shouldn't be mannequins who are just an image and figure of what the world says a man is. The world has a "perfect" image of what a man should be, but it's all based on how the outside looks. He should be muscular, well-dressed, have money, girls, and nice cars, but on the inside, he's hollow. We should be real men who love the Lord and deeply desire Him above all other things.
The big question is; What is a godly man?
I. A godly man loves the Lord his God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. Mark 12:30 (Speaking of the greatest commandment) Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
II. A godly man is constant in repentance with humility knowing it's not by His power He reaches godliness. Matthew 5:20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
III. A godly man strives to become just like Christ and live like Him. 1 John 2:6 Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
IV. A godly man seeks the Lord's wisdom in all things through reading the Bible, meditation, and
prayer. Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; Proverbs 2:6 For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
V. A godly man humbly serves God wholeheartedly, going wherever He calls. A godly man is after God's own heart, he doesn't live out his own will, but the Father's will for his life. 1 John 2:16-17 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
From my research I found these five points to be a basic template for how a godly man lives out his life. However, I can't just tell you what a godly man is and leave you with that, but I will try to show you how these five different actions are applied in life.
I. Your heart is your emotions and deepest desires, its what creates the reasons for your action or inaction. If you love the Lord your God with all your heart that means that you are completely infatuated with Him, your utmost desire, what is there in your heart is to serve him.
The soul I'm still working on figuring out what it is, but I do know that your soul is everything your body is not. Your soul is merely connected to your body till you die and depart from your human frame. Your soul is alive when it is in Christ, it is dead when it is in the clutches of death because of sin. To love God with all of your soul you must give it to Him. He is to be the one in control of your soul.
Your mind is what is in charge of all things that you do, it contemplates, solves, and makes decisions. If your whole heart loves God, your brain is then what contemplates and decides to put that love and desire to serve Him into commands for your body to fulfill.
Your strength is your muscles and all your physical abilities. When you love God with all your strength you are using all your physical abilities to serve Him.
II. Repentance of our own sin is very important because we must die to ourselves to live for Christ. We must die to sin for God to come in an give us His righteousness. Submitting ourselves to the authority of Christ in our lives is a big part of growing in godliness. Without repentance and humility before God, how can He come into our lives and start shaping us to be more like Him? We've got to humbly give ourselves up to Christ accepting Him as our redeemer, our salvation, our King, and we must die to our sin in repentance and live as the Holy Spirit leads, presenting our bodies and everything we have to God the Father in ultimate sacrifice living out our love for God. Then God can start to shape and refine us in His Godliness.
III. To become like Jesus we need to learn who He is and what He did. Jesus is our example of godliness. The more time you spend with someone the more you will find yourself becoming like the other. The more time you spend learning about Jesus through reading and hearing the Word, worshiping Him, and talking to Him through prayer the more you will find yourself becoming like Him.
IV. Since God is all knowing, one of the ways you live out your life to become a godly man is simply learning the wisdom and knowledge of God that He has given for us to learn and living it out. This is however, no less difficult to pursue and do than the other three points because often we want to figure things out for ourselves.
V. The fifth point is really about dying to ourselves and living for Christ. Romans 6:13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. Do you think its possible to be a godly man when we still live our life to achieve successes and pleasure? A godly man doesn't live for himself, but for God and to accomplish His will.
It isn't easy to become a godly man. Its not easy to kill the flesh and set your mind and heart on the things of God. Repentance may be the hardest and first step. However, the truth is that there is great value in becoming a godly man. Do, we waste our time trying to become men by the world's standards who are just hollow mannequins? The world will eventually fade away, but the man who lives for God will live forever with Him. I hope that we all as men would start to live in profound love and desire for our Father in heaven, searching for godliness with humility. For it is not by any work we do on our own that makes us Godly, but it is only through the help of God and His work refining us that we can come anywhere close to godliness.
We all try to be manly men including myself, we all wish to be grown up, but are we turning into godly men who grow up to be who God wants us to be? Godliness is beneficial and of value to a Man on earth and off of the earth.
This is the question I will leave you with; Who-do-you-seek? Because this question gets to the root of godliness. If you seek the world you will become like the world, but if you seek Jesus you will become more like Him by His work of making you His holy bride. Which isn't something you normally tell guys.
-Grace and Peace-
IV. Since God is all knowing, one of the ways you live out your life to become a godly man is simply learning the wisdom and knowledge of God that He has given for us to learn and living it out. This is however, no less difficult to pursue and do than the other three points because often we want to figure things out for ourselves.
V. The fifth point is really about dying to ourselves and living for Christ. Romans 6:13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. Do you think its possible to be a godly man when we still live our life to achieve successes and pleasure? A godly man doesn't live for himself, but for God and to accomplish His will.
It isn't easy to become a godly man. Its not easy to kill the flesh and set your mind and heart on the things of God. Repentance may be the hardest and first step. However, the truth is that there is great value in becoming a godly man. Do, we waste our time trying to become men by the world's standards who are just hollow mannequins? The world will eventually fade away, but the man who lives for God will live forever with Him. I hope that we all as men would start to live in profound love and desire for our Father in heaven, searching for godliness with humility. For it is not by any work we do on our own that makes us Godly, but it is only through the help of God and His work refining us that we can come anywhere close to godliness.
We all try to be manly men including myself, we all wish to be grown up, but are we turning into godly men who grow up to be who God wants us to be? Godliness is beneficial and of value to a Man on earth and off of the earth.
This is the question I will leave you with; Who-do-you-seek? Because this question gets to the root of godliness. If you seek the world you will become like the world, but if you seek Jesus you will become more like Him by His work of making you His holy bride. Which isn't something you normally tell guys.
-Grace and Peace-
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