We’re being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, and how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life. This new life is starting right now, and is whetting our appetites for the glorious day when our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, appears. He offered Himself as a sacrifice to free us from a dark, rebellious life into this good, pure life, making us a people He can be proud of, energetic in goodness (Titus 2:12-14).
As we move through day two of our 40-day Soul Fast, I want to talk to you about the second characteristic of an authentic person: Godliness. Godliness begins with the “Godlikeness” of your thoughts—the thoughts that govern your mind. It begins by putting on the mind of Christ.
As Paul wrote the Corinthians, “Examine your motives, test your heart!” (1 Cor. 11:27). Make sure everything you say, do, think, and choose is lined up with who it is you truly want to be. Check your heart. Clean house by sweeping up any impure motives or stray intentions. Pay attention to how the things you harbor within your heart affect your words and behaviors—and equally important, how your words, habits, and behaviors affect the life of your soul.
I encourage you today to do a thorough study of the word godliness and meditate on all it implies. Then ask yourself where you are falling short of it. Eliminate those things that are not “adding to your faith” and supplement those key things Peter listed that will “have your life on a firm footing” (2 Pet. 1:10)!
True godliness does not turn men out of the world, but enables them to live better in it and excites their endeavors to mend it. —William Penn
ACTION STEPS
| Meditate on the following and journal what you believe the Bible is saying about you as a person: God created human beings in His own image—reflecting His own nature. He blessed them saying: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!” (See Genesis 1:26-28.) |
| Sometimes we are our own worst enemy. Are you sabotaging your own success by the thoughts you think? Are you allowing those thoughts to interfere with how God wants you to view yourself? Are you giving someone else permission to lay things on you that aren’t yours to carry and don’t further you toward your destiny? |
| Are your past failures holding dominion over your future? Are relationships distracting you, or worse, suppressing your God-like nature for greatness, significance, and love? |
| In what areas are you living “a godless, indulgent life” and how can you—starting right now—begin living a more “God-filled, God-honoring life?” |
| What undermining habits do you want God to help you to give up? List them and commit them to prayer. From this day onward, expect God to empower you to live a godly life pleasing to Him. |
Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you’ll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want (1 Peter 4:1-2).
The way to be truly happy is to be truly human, and the way to be truly human is to be truly godly. —J. J. Packer