Why Am I Not Changing?

Excerpt from the sermon: Train Yourself For Godliness

We must “train ourselves for Godliness.” To do this, we must be nourished in the Word of God. This is your food and drink. In this nourishment, you should find much satisfaction. And if you are truly finding all of your nourishment in Scripture alone, then your spiritual life will result in a well-disciplined life.

Think about an athlete who is being pushed by his coach and by his trainer to eat and drink only the best things for his body. Day after day, month after month, the athlete is getting stronger from the training, but his body is not changing that much. His physique isn’t developing properly. And the trainer is totally confused. The trainer asks the athlete once again to go over his diet. And the athlete tells him all of these great things that he is putting into his body. And the trainer is still confused.

Finally, the trainer says: I know you are eating all of these good things, but have you stopped eating candy and cake and drinking Coke? Come to find out that the athlete had been sneaking all of these foods and drinks that were bad for him in the middle of the night. So, his body wasn’t changing the way it needed to change and the way it would have changed if he would have put off the bad stuff.

So, physically, he might have been getting stronger, because he was lifting weights, but his conditioning and endurance were not getting any better because of how he was nourishing his body.

In our spiritual life, we can read the Bible and grow in head knowledge, but if we are not putting off the old man, then we will not be growing in our steadfastness and our ability to withstand the winds and the waves of this world. Someone can fool you that they are a Christian because of what they know, but if their life is not changing and their reaction to the things of this world is not changing it is because they have not actually put off the old man — you will know them by their fruits.

Ultimately, the reason that the athlete in our example didn’t change was because he didn’t want to. He was not devoted to the goal with all of his being. He was not totally sold out on the finished product. He was not all in. It didn’t matter how much his parents wanted it for him. It didn’t matter how much his coach pushed him. He didn’t change because he wasn’t changed.

There are many times that we can look to our own lives and year after year wonder why in the world are we still struggling with the same sin…?

We wonder why our life isn’t changing. We wonder why someone is still not fully devoted to Christ or to the bride of Christ. We wonder why someone is not actually growing in the faith. They might be growing in head knowledge — the same way that someone can learn from watching documentaries or reading books — but there is no actual change.

And the answer is because you want your selfishness. That answer is because you do not want to put off the old man. The answer is because you have still not surrendered your life to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. This is evidence of an unchanged spiritual life.

The Apostle John says that continual sin is evidence of an unbeliever. The reality is that you aren’t changing because you aren’t changed. Your Godliness isn’t changing because your heart is not changed.

If you are looking to your life today and evaluating your Godliness, it does you no good to keep lying to your coach. Just trying to be morally better one day than the next is never going to benefit your eternal soul. Your heart must be changed. You must choose to devote yourself to “loving the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength.” This includes putting off all the things that are bad for you. This includes repenting of your sin — turning from your sin.

To train yourself for Godliness is not only to nourish yourself with Scripture and with Doctrine. It also includes exercising — disciplining your spiritual life. It includes self-control. It includes being resolved to live for Christ. It includes being sober-minded. It includes having your life in order according to the standard of Christian living. You must have spiritual self-discipline if you want to live a Godly life. It is important to be disciplined and trained in the Truth!

So, let us resolve ourselves to be “trained for Godliness.”  In doing this, we will find much profit in our temporary life on this earth. And in doing this, we will glorify God in our life eternal. A life of Godliness is how we truly honor God in life and in death.