Lesson 12: Faithful in what you teach
1 Timothy 4:7-11 - www.bible.com/bible/59/1ti.4

7 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;
8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
9 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance.
10 For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.
11 Command and teach these things.

Our verses today were written to a young man who was a pastor-teacher for a church – instruction that he was to be careful of the things he taught to his people. But these verses apply to each of us who are believers in Jesus as well, even if we are not a pastor, or a teacher for a class of some kind.

We teach others every day by what we say and by our actions. Children, whether they are siblings or neighbors or our own children or grandchildren are taught every moment by what we say and how our actions demonstrate or deny our words. Even though I am now old enough to be a grandparent, my life is still influenced by images from my childhood – my father rising early each day to spend time studying the Bible and praying for several hours before he went to work, my mother singing as she cooked our meals even though she had worked all day long, my grandmother sitting on the floor with her grandchildren to be “one of us” as we played, my great-grandfather serving us food when he could have been sitting in a comfortable chair visiting with his sons and grandsons and letting the women do all the work of serving.


Just as athletes train their bodies for their particular sport, spending hours and hours doing the same things over and over till their bodies memorize the things they need to do, so we must train our minds in God’s way as well. We go over and over the Scriptures which teach us how to train our minds to think His way rather than our way. We learn truth from the One who is truth – Jesus (John 14:6). We learn to take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5). We learn to forgive all sin against us each day (Matthew 18:15-35). We learn to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and to rejoice always (1 Thessalonians 5:16). We could go on and on with this list, but I trust you understand. God gives us the grain of faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) but it is our duty to train ourselves willingly to make that faith and everything else about our Christian lives grow into strong faith and life. We cannot do this in our own strength, but God always honors our determination to try and enables us.
 *Is there an area from the list above – Bible study, thoughts, forgiveness, prayer, contentment and thankfulness – where you could cooperate with God better as He teaches you? Is there another area in your life God is speaking to you about right now where He would like to work to make your actions more consistent with your words? What steps will you choose to take in response to His still, small voice, and when will you begin?