Dave’s Monday Blast – May 29, 2017
Today is Memorial Day. I suspect most of us have experienced some loss specific to this day of remembrance. My thanks to all who have provided the ultimate sacrifice.
I appreciate you bearing with me as we have spent a month unpacking the 10 Disciplines of a Godly Man. Using 1 Timothy 4:7-8 as our motivation, INTENTIONAL men affirm that our personal growth in Christ is in direct proportion to our commitment to disciplining ourselves for godliness. “Godliness is valuable in EVERY way, as it holds promise for the present life AND for the life to come.”
We have discussed the following principles:
Purity – Relational Investments – Possessing the Mind of Christ – Devotion to the Word – Integrity specific to the Truth – Managing our Tongues – Considering all work to be sacred – Persevering in what is good!
Finishing this week:
9. Discipline of the Church: You don’t have to go to church to be a Christian; you don’t have to go home to be married. But in both cases if you do not, you will have a very poor relationship! You will never attain full spiritual manhood, nor will your family reach its spiritual maturity without commitment to the church.
Find a good church, commit yourself to it wholeheartedly. Your participation should include financial support, but it should also include giving your time, talents, expertise, and creativity to the glory of God.
10. The Discipline of Giving: How can we escape the power of materialism? By giving from a heart overflowing with God’s grace, like the believers in Macedonia who “gave themselves first to the Lord” (2 Corinthians 8:5); this is where grace giving must begin.
Giving disarms the power of money. Though giving should be joyous, because “God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). And Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).
As we sweat out the disciplines of a godly man, remember, with Paul, what energizes us to live them out…”Not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10).
