What’s your purpose?

I went to the dentist yesterday.  I hate going to the dentist but it is one of those necessary things that you have to do.  No cavities – that was the good news.  However, he said I don’t floss enough.  Rats – didn’t think he’d notice that I’d been a little lax on that this summer.  I didn’t notice.  It’s one of those details that can escape my attention.  It’s a discipline.

Discipline – what an ugly word.  No one likes to talk about discipline.  It takes discipline to do those things we really need to do but don’t really feel like it all the time.

Seeking intimacy in my relationship with God also requires discipline.  It takes determination.  If I want to live my life as Christ-intends then I have to make some hard choices, do some hard work, but it yields the joy that comes from walking with Christ.

1 Tim 4:7 talks about “training ourselves for godliness.”  It is like an athlete preparing for competition.  It takes conditioning and preparation.  Also – no one else can do it for you. 

If I am training for godliness – what is godliness?  How do I define it?  I need to know what the goal is.  I think the best way to describe godliness is to be Christlike.  Not that we can be perfect – we can’t.  We can seek to make our actions and attitudes match Christ’s. 

Keep in mind that there is nothing you can do to make you more accepted by the Father. Once you have accepted Christ into your life, you are loved and accepted.  He has already done it all for you.

So what’s the discipline for…. Philippians 3:10 talks about our purpose being to know Christ.  Below is this verse from the Amplified Version:

“¹⁰[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death”

So I want to be more like Christ…. that won’t happen by just hanging around a church, or thinking lofty thoughts, or memorizing more scripture.  I will take more than that.  It will take determination.  It will take discipline.  It will take focused thinking.  It will take modeling the life of Christ.  It will take hard work.  It will involve mistakes, heart-ache, and yet will yield immeasurable joy.

Want to join me and make it your purpose to really know Christ…