Practical Godliness (In Need Of)

I consider myself to be a practical person.  Things that are simple, well-defined and easy to be understood is what I like.  I like to BE understood practically in how I live, walk, act, and talk.  Therefore, practical godliness appeals to me but what is it and how can we obtain it?
As Christians (followers of Christ) we are constantly being challenged to learn and grow but from where?  Well, the Bible, of course which is God’s Word.  So let’s start there.

I’ve been writing out the book of II Peter and this verse seems so practical as Peter reminded the first century Christians (and now us) what type (manner) of persons we are to be.  Simply put, he reminds us we need to be holy in our living and godliness.  But let’s break that down even more.  What does is mean to have a “holy conversation”?  Conversation means “manner of living” in this context and holy means “exalted or worthy of complete devotion as one perfect in goodness and righteousness.”  Is your conversation worth of complete devotion to God?  I would say it is definitely a worthy goal.  He gave us life and then sent His only Son to give us a new life – an eternal life.  I’d say He is worthy of so much more than we give Him.  So how can we be holy?

Webster defines honour as “a good name or public esteem.”  When we honour God we place Him above all else as we show Him the respect He so richly deserves.  Think about it!  He gave ALL for us and He gave ALL for EVERYONE.  He definitely deserves our honour.  If you know me, you know that I love to sing and in Psalms 66:2, we are reminded to, “sing forth the honour of his name…”  If you aren’t quite sure how to get started then just begin with your church hymnal.  Keep one at home and sing through the hymnal.  Bring God the honour due His name.  At the very least, He is your Creator but at the very best (and most), He is your Saviour.  Bless His holy name!

Being holy in our walk means obeying God.  We all know the kids song, “Obedience”.  It has some practical and simple truths in it.  To read and study God’s Word, to follow the truths therein, leads to holiness in our walk.  This IS the very best way to show that we believe (you can hear the song here – aren’t they adorable?).  One final thought on obedience – God never asks us to do anything without giving us the tools and the strength to do it.  Isn’t that simple enough with obeying and living for Him?

Do you love your child, sibling, mother, father, spouse?  Most of us do have love for these our relatives.  It isn’t always easy to love them when they are being ornery, right?  Think of God and how ornery we are and yet He shows us the greatest example of love:  sending His Son to die for all our ugly sins.  If we are going to be holy in our living then we need to follow the example set out for us in Scriptures by our Saviour.  It really is that simple.  Ephesians 5:2 says, “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.”  Love is a practical trait in godliness.

Yield is a word we have come to be associated with the symbol on road signs.  But to yield our rights is a way to gain holiness.  Yield is a “giving way” or a surrendering to a situation or circumstance.  This isn’t always easy because our way gets in THE way.  Our pride usually wants to take us down a different path than what is good or godly for us.  We think by going our way we can do as we wish and not get hurt.  However, I’ve seen so many lives that do not yield to God’s ways and they just end up a mess with no direction in life.  What better way to live in peace and harmony with all around you then when you yield to God’s ways.  I love Romans 6 as we read about how sin affects our lives.  In verse 16, we can read, “know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”  This verse is basically saying that we have two masters we will serve in life:  self or God.  Who are we yielding to today?

Here are the words to the song my husband is playing (one of my favorites).