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Life is a journey, and each day is a leg in that journey. Proverbs says that a man makes his plans, but God directs his steps. Basically, God is ultimately in control, but we have something to say in the process. Where we end up depends on whether and how we align ourselves with God and HIs purposes.

The weekly reading for the small group I am in (and the subject of the sermon this coming Sunday) is 1 Timothy 4:7-10. That passage inspires my writing today as part of the leg of my journey that I call today. My focus will be the following two verses:

Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

1 timothy 4:7-8 (niv)

I was fortunate today that I didn’t just set out to check off this reading for Wednesday night. I came at this reading with a more intentional and devoted mindset, which I suppose is appropriate for the topic. I can’t say that I always have the mindfulness to do that, but today I did.

I might otherwise have assumed I knew what “godless myths” are and what “godly” training is. I might have glossed over those phrases without really understanding what Paul is saying, but I realized as read them that I didn’t really know what he meant by “godless myths” and training to be “godly.”

Acknowledging this, I took one step back to read these verses in context. I read verse 6, which says:

If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed.

1 Timothy 4:6 (emphasis added)

Of course, then I had to step further back to see what Paul meant when he said, “If you point these things….” What things? The previously verses contain those “things”:

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.

1 Timothy 4:1-5

I am still not sure what “deceiving spirits” these people followed or what “teachings” Paul references here, but the fact that Paul calls these teachers “hypocritical liars” who taught ascetic religious practices (forbidding marriage and ordering abstinence from certain foods) is a clue. Affirming that God created everything good and receiving those good things with thanksgiving and prayer is another clue.

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In other words, a hypocrite is an actor. A hypocrite according to the Greek meaning is someone playing a part, a person pretending to be someone or to know something than who or what they are.

As I considered these things, I realized that the Greek words translated into English as “godless myths” and training to “godly” might also give me a better understanding of what Paul is saying. When I dove into the Greek, the meaning became clearer, and it isn’t necessarily what I might have thought.

I might have answered, if someone pressed me, that godliness is how a person behaves. I might have said that godliness means doing right, living according to God’s rules, and conforming to biblical morality, but that isn’t what Paul is saying here. To be sure, godliness does bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit, but we should not confuse the fruit for the root.

The the word translated “godless” paired with “myths” in the NIV is βέβηλος (bebelos) from the base word βάσις meaning “a threshold”. It literally means accessible, as by crossing a door-way. By implication according to the Jewish understanding of the phrase, it means profane (as in secular or common), heathen, and not sacred.

The word carries with it the idea of inappropriately approaching sacred space, as in crossing into sacred space without proper deference. Godless myths are, therefore, narratives that do not accurately and with appropriate deference reflect the divine character of God.

In the context of the beginning of 1 Timothy 4, Paul seems to be pairing godless myths (and old wives’ tales) with the deceptive (and therefore godless) teachings that forbid marriage and demand abstinence from certain foods. This godless deception Paul is referencing could be the Gnostic idea that the physical world is evil and bad, because Paul counters by saying that God created the world good, and we should receive the good things God created with thanksgiving and prayer.

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Finally “training ourselves to be godly” makes sense in this context when we look at the Greek word translated “godly”: εὐσέβεια (eusebeia). It means (most relevantly) “devout reverence in attitude, conduct, and deed.”

Godliness in this sense seems to be a matter of the heart attitude, the posture of a person’s heart toward God that is exhibited in reverence toward Him that is carried out in conduct and deed. In context, it is respecting the biblical idea that everything God created is good and that He is worthy of our thanksgiving as we receive those good things God made.

The root of godliness is the heartfelt attitude of reverence toward God that is displayed authentically (not putting on a show) in our thanksgiving, prayer, and physical devotion to the Giver of all good things. The godliness we see in a person’s life is the fruit that comes from the root of that inner reverence and devotion to God.

The real root of godliness is in the heart of a person who authentically, reverently devoted to God as He is in contrast to the hypocrite who is only putting on a show. The hypocrite adopts the mannerisms, actions, and expressions of what he imagines a godly person should be without knowing the reality of who God is.

The hypocrite doesn’t know God or the character of God who created the heavens and the earth and all things in it and called them, “Good!” The hypocrite supposes that doing the right things and abstaining from the rights things is what makes a person godly and holy. In Paul’s day, Gnostics, who thought the world was evil, were likely the false actors Paul was thinking about.

The reality of godliness is in knowing the character and goodness of God. The reality of godliness is trusting the goodness of God and being thankfully devoted to Him for the goodness and grace God has extended to us.

Training in godliness is being mindful of God’s goodness. Training in godliness is practicing thanksgiving. Training in godliness is being intentional to thank God, to pray, and show Him the reverence He is due in all the we do.

This is done in everything, including the most mundane things, that we do, like marrying, breaking bread, and living our daily lives. Nothing is common or profane to a child of God; everything is sacred and worthy of our expression of reverence, devotion, and thanksgiving to God, our Father.