right living

Psa 24.3-5

In Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster wrote, "The desperate need today is not for greater numbers of intelligent people or gifted people, but for deeper people."

To Timothy, the apostle Paul wrote, (1 Tim 4.6-8) "If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come."

I like this from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: "Godliness, as denoting character and conduct determined by the principle of love or fear of God in the heart, is the summing up of genuine religion. There can be no true religion without it: only a dead “form” (2 Tim 3:5). The term is a favorite one in the Pastoral Epistles. The incarnation is “the mystery of godliness” (1 Tim 3:16)."

The discipline and outward change must flow from an inward recreation initiated by God Himself. When this is the sequence, godliness is differentiated from goodliness in no small way.