The Godliness Gap

Jesus made staggering promises about His ability, and His vision, to transform human lives.  This life is not something we create, but something that grows in us through the Spirit of God:

“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.  John 7:37-39

One of the most concise descriptions of the life the Spirit will produce is found in Galatians 5:

^…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control.  Galatians 5:22-23

In our key reference for Upward Training, The Apostle Paul challenges us to train ourselves for godliness.  The goal is to become godly, to live the God-life, not the self-life. 

But when I’m honest, I am troubled by a significant gap between who I am right now and the person God wants me to become.  I am not as godly as I should be.  There is a “godliness gap.”  We do develop ways to bridge this gap, the most common being to adopt a life of image management, where we maintain the externals of Christianity with periodic bursts of greater faithfulness.  This is usually initiated by a crisis in our lives, an experience (i.e. mission trip or conference), or a new association that focuses our attention for a while (a “new” teacher we discover, friend who inspires us, etc.).    This lasts for a season, but since it is mainly external we eventually go back to living lives of external image management, aware that we remain stuck with lives ordered around ourselves, formed largely by sinful attitudes and patterns of life.   I know God has more for me.  But how do I get across this gap?   

This is what Upward Training is all about!  Although the gap will always exist until we are made perfect in Christ’s presence, it can become smaller!  There is a process of growth, an orderly process we are responsible to undertake as Jesus’ disciples.  This is how we experience true, lasting change, how the gap shrinks.  It is a cooperative process, one in which we surrender to God and order our lives around His design for us, and He brings about growth and change.  For example, we see in Galatians 5 that as we “walk in the Spirit” (that’s where we surrender and order our lives around God’s design), God grows the Fruit of the Spirit in us (Galatians 5:16-25).  Upward Training will help us to walk in the Spirit.  Jesus taught that as we “abide in Him” (that’s where we surrender and order our lives around His design), God will serve as the caretaker of the vine and grow fruit in our lives (John 15:1-8).  Upward training will help us abide in Jesus. 

Choose God’s way: to shrink the gap by training in godliness. 

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Personal Reflection or Discussion Questions

Where do you see the “godliness gap” in your life?

What are some instances in which you have experienced “image management”? 

What ways have you tried to shrink the gap?  How has it worked? 

Prayer: Reflecting specifically on this devotional, write out a prayer to God.