Thursday, May 3, 2018

GODLINESS TAKES WORK

Prov. 21:21 Whoever pursues godliness and unfailing love will find life, godliness, and honor.  NLT

      In order to have godly hearts that are full of the love of God, we must pursue godliness. It doesn’t just fall from heaven into our laps. We must conscientiously and consistently seek after it. It must be a priority in our lives. The reason why we struggle so much in our spiritual lives is that we are not focused on those things that give us the victory we crave in Jesus. Pursuing godliness is not high on the list of most professing Christians. As a result, they are not capable of loving others as God loves them.

      It is not impossible to live godly lives. It is available to all who pursue it. We can never reach perfection, but we can become a people who please God well. We determine the depth of our spiritual lives. If we really want to be godly, we can be. We must make those things that make us holy important in our lives. We must be into God’s Word consistently and strive for understanding of it. We must commit ourselves to applying its truths and instructions to our living. We must pray consistently with a desire to worship the Lord as well as receive guidance from Him. We must spend time with Him with praise and thanksgiving as well as our petitions. We must make prayer a natural part of how we live. We must be a people who serve the Lord, putting our lives where our mouths are. We must humbly live for Him and actively sharing Him with all who will listen. These things are a normal part of the life of those who are pursuing godliness.

       Godliness breeds godly love. It is impossible for godly people to not love others in the way we are loved by God. Godly people seek to relate to each other with the characteristics of love described by Paul in I Cor. 13:4-8a. We treat each other with respect and honor. We always strive to elevate our relationships to God’s level.

     When we pursue godliness and unfailing love, we find life, godliness and honor. We will be who God wants us to be, a people after his own heart.

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