“If we were to put as much energy into our spiritual life as an athlete does into their training for a temporary competition, we will grow and accomplish much for God and His Kingdom.”

After our sermon a couple weeks ago about “going deeper”, there was an evident need for a series on 1 Timothy chapter 4 on how to practically “go deeper” and have a foundational Christ-like mindset through the Biblical Christian habits that Paul instructed to Timothy as he trained him up to have a Christ minded ministry.

The goal in this series is to understand the “Godly Values” that Paul gives to Timothy as we try to continue to shape that same Christ-like mindset in our own lives as we chose to have a deep relationship with God today.

In todays sermon we look at 1 Timothy 4:10-12 to understand that spiritual exercise is not easy; we must labor and strive/suffer reproach. The word translated for “strive” is an athletic word from which we get the word “agonize” in English. This word is a picture of an athlete straining and giving their best to win by excelling, working at, and putting in time for growth in their training. 1 Timothy 4:12 reminds us that we should not make excuses for the training we need to be examples to the body of believers and to our spheres of influence in the world. Just as we make many excuses not to physically train or exercise, we also make excuses not to spiritually exercise. Don’t feel alone though, there were many men and women in the Bible who made excuses too. But, the important thing isn’t the excuse we make, rather it is whether or not we are being an example of Christ to others. We specifically look at this through the lens of the Godly Value behind our “word” and “speech” in this message.

This week’s “WEEKLY EXERCISES”

-Stop focusing on “why” you can’t, instead focus on “how” you can: Numbers 13:28 & 33

(The habit of making excuses keeps us focused on the obstacles)

-Let your conversation be seasoned with salt: Colossians 4:6