PAGE 02

TRAINING IS NOT OPTIONAL

But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.

1 Timothy 4:7 KJV

I have spent enough time training physically to know that nothing meaningful happens by accident.

You do not accidentally become fast. You do not accidentally get stronger. You do not wake up one morning with better footwork because you thought about it really hard the night before. Your body responds to what you repeatedly ask it to do.

Then I read Paul telling Timothy to exercise himself unto godliness, and that language started hitting me differently.

Paul does not tell Timothy to sit around waiting to become godly. He gives him something to do.

That does not mean we save ourselves. It does not mean Christianity is self-improvement with Jesus attached to the branding. God is the one who saves, changes, convicts, strengthens and directs us. Grace comes first.

But apparently grace does not remove participation.

If I want patience, eventually I am going to encounter somebody who tests it. If I want self-control, there has to be something I could actually lose control over. If I want courage, fear has to enter the room at some point.

That is when the weight gets put on the bar.

I can pray for God to make me disciplined, but eventually there will be a morning when I do not feel like doing what I know I should do.

Now we find out whether I am training.

PAGE 17

TRAIN THE MAN YOU ARE BECOMING

Paul later tells Timothy:

Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.

1 Timothy 4:15 KJV

I love that phrase.

That thy profiting may appear to all.

Growth becomes visible.

Not overnight.

Not because you announced it.

Because enough time passed and enough reps accumulated that the person standing there is genuinely different.

That is what I want.

I still train my body because bodily exercise does profit.

I want strength.

Speed.

Conditioning.

Athleticism.

I want to see what this body can do while God lets me use it.

But I know the body has an expiration date.

Eventually everybody slows down.

Eventually the weight feels heavier.

Eventually somebody younger arrives.

The deeper question is what kind of man remains when physical dominance stops being available.

Can he govern himself?

Can he love?

Can he forgive?

Can he endure?

Can he admit when he is wrong?

Can he serve without applause?

Can he remain faithful when nobody is watching?

Can God trust him with responsibility?

That man is being built right now.

Not when marriage arrives.

Not when money arrives.

Not when leadership arrives.

Not when everything finally becomes convenient.

Now.

So train your body.

Train your mind.

But above all else:

Exercise thyself rather unto godliness.

1 Timothy 4:7 KJV

Train the man who has to live inside everything else God may eventually give you.

TRAIN TO BE GODLY.