Got To Be Godly

Pretty often I would find myself thinking about how I want others to see me as a godly woman; how I want young ladies to be able to look up to me. I would compare myself to other women in the Church, trying to be like them. After prayer after prayer, study after study, I realized that I was going about this whole thing the wrong way! What other way to be godly than to aim to be like our God Himself? With that being said, I want to help you avoid the mistake I made. Don’t get me wrong, there’s absolutely no problem with admiring other women in the Church. But comparison is a thief of joy! In Galatians 6:4-5, Paul encourages us to focus on our own actions and responsibilities, rather than comparing ourselves to others. So, let’s see how WE ourselves can be that godly person that others can and will admire.

Before we dive in, what does godly even mean? Well, I’m glad you asked. According to the Google search bar, godly means “devoutly religious; pious”. Now, if you’re anything like me, I’m sure you want to take it a step further and see what “devout” and “pious” mean. So overjoyed that we think alike! Clicking back to the Google search bar, we see that the definition of “devout” is “in a manner that shows deep religious feeling or commitment”. After googling the next word, we read that it means “deeply religious and visibly follows all the moral and ethical codes of his religion”. So, to be devoutly religious means you are COMMITTED to that way of life; there’s no turning away for any reason. To be pious means you are DEEPLY religious, not scratching the surface or straddling the fence. No picking or choosing what you want to do. And people can SEE this religion on you by the way you live your life.

Now that we know what “godly” means, it’s time to stand on the edge of the diving board, because we’re still not ready to dive in just yet. We must add a quick grammar lesson for emphasis. So, have you thought about what “-ly” means? Neither did I at first, because it’s not even a whole word. But, with it attached to God’s name to form a word, I had to do the research! I found that “-ly” is added to adjectives to form an adverb that describes the nature or manner of something. I would get into what adjectives and adverbs are, but I was taught that about 13 years ago and I barely remember. So, to put it in plain terms: to be godly is to act in a nature or manner that reflects God. How do we do that, you ask? Good question, but I’ll answer it later. FIRST, we need to know the attributes of our amazing God. You can’t aim to be like someone you don’t even know!

We all know that God is good, so let’s start there. In Mark 10:17, a man ran up and knelt before Jesus, calling him “Good Teacher” (ASV), asking what he must do to inherit eternal life. Before even answering the question, Jesus corrected the man in the very next verse, letting him know that “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.” (NKJV). If Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, says God is good, who are we to believe otherwise? Does He not allow us to see another day (Ps. 118:24), regardless of how undeserving we are? To add, He sent His ONLY Son, to save us (1 John 4:9-10). Just let that sink in for a second. Our Creator, the Almighty God, loves and cares for us enough to want to save us. If that isn’t goodness, then I don’t know what is.  Speaking of knowing things, let’s transition to our God being an omniscient God. 

Our itty bitty brains can’t even fathom the thoughts of the Lord! (Rom. 11:33). This is the same God that knows how many strings of hair are on your head according to Jesus in Matthew 10:30. But not just your head, every human being on this earth. We can’t even imagine the number of people populating the earth, yet our God knows the number of HAIRS on EACH of their heads! And to sprinkle on some intimacy, our Father knows what we need before we even ask Him (Matt. 6:8). He knows our hearts and understands our innermost thoughts and intentions better than we do ourselves. This one detail alone sets Him apart from all other gods with the lowercase ‘g’. Which smoothly transitions us over to His holiness. 

To be holy is to be set apart. There’s a plethora of things that sets God apart from other gods and “beings”. As written in 1 Samuel 2 verse 2, “No one is holy like the LORD, for there is none besides You, nor is there any rock like our God.” (NKJV) I think no one said it better than the writer of one of my favorite songs, “Only a Holy God”. Just in case you haven’t heard this hymn before, I’ll share the delightful lyrics: 

“Who else commands all the hosts of Heaven? Who else could make every king bow down? Who else could whisper and darkness trembles? Only a holy God. 

What other beauty demands such praises? What other splendor outshines the Sun? What other majesty rules with justice? Only a holy God. 

What other glory consumes like fire? What other power can raise the dead? What other name remains undefeated? Only a holy God. 

Who else could rescue me from my failing? Who else could offer His only Son? Who else invites me to call Him Father? Only a holy God.” 

Such a pleasant hymn, right? And what makes it most pleasant is that it’s describing OUR Father. The faithful, unchanging God that we have the privilege to serve. Which sends us over to the final attribute: faithfulness. 

As written by the author of Psalm 100, verse 5, “...the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endures to all generations. (NKJV) I don’t know about you, but I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that His truth lives through GENERATIONS! Some of us can barely keep a recipe from our parents without the measurements being altered to suit our own taste buds. But our Lord and Savior remains the same, no matter what. This makes me think of His promise to David back in 2 Samuel 7: 12-16, telling him that his kingdom would endure forever. Romans 1:3 confirms that this was fulfilled when Jesus was born; a descendant of David. Amazing, right? Or when Isaiah prophesied Christ’s birth in Isaiah 7:14, and He was born about 700 years later in Matthew 1:23! I’m sure neither one of us has a clue as to what’s going to happen in the next 700 years, let alone the next 7 minutes! And to add, that’s an unfathomable amount of time to keep your word and remain faithful. But our Lord God is able to do it effortlessly, because there is no other more faithful than Him. Paul tells us in 2 Thessalonians 3 verse 3, “But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.”(NKJV)  If He kept His word about David’s kingdom and many other things in the bible, I don’t doubt one bit that He will keep us from evil the way He says. Isn’t He just lovely?

Now, we can finally jump off the diving board! Let’s take what we learned about our Lord and apply it to ourselves. First off, would you consider yourself a good person? Most of us will say yes, but would others be able to say the same of you? Most importantly, would our omniscient God be able to agree? An even better question: are you aligning your life with His will? If you answered no to at least one of these, or are unsure, no worries. That’s why we are commanded to strengthen and correct one another through God’s word (2 Tim. 3:16-17). Which is what we should ensure we are following if we want to sincerely be a good person. In Matthew 22:37-40, Jesus tells us to love God with ALL of heart, ALL of our soul, and ALL of our mind. He then proceeds to tell us that after we follow that great command, the next greatest is to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Let’s stop and think about this for just a moment. Do you speak negatively of yourself? Do you emotionally or physically harm yourself? Don’t you make sure you have food, clothes, money, and other necessities? Of course, those are God’s provisions, but you ensure that you use/have them as needed. This is how we are to treat others. Jesus said in Matthew 25:40, “inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” (NKJV) When we love and take care of others, we are doing the same to our Lord and Savior. When we’re being hateful to others, in any shape, form or fashion, we are doing the same to Jesus. He didn’t deserve that treatment back when He was crucified, and He doesn’t deserve it now. Same with His Father’s children. Paul tells us in Philippians 2:3-4 that we should “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.” (NKJV) And he also tells us that we should put the interest of others before our own. Keep in mind, those words were inspired by the Almighty God Himself! (2 Tim. 3:16). Once you put God first and follow His two greatest commands wholeheartedly, every other good word, thought, or deed should fall into place. It won’t always be easy to be good, especially to those who aren’t good to you, but it will be worth it in the end.

As far as being all knowing? Impossible. Surely there’s a difference between being all knowing and a “know it all”. However, the Word places a high value on knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. It also emphasizes that the pursuit of knowledge should be grounded in the fear of the Lord; knowledge of God’s Word is not for the sake of pride, but oriented towards living a life that is pleasing to Him and in accordance with His will. In Colossians 1:9, Paul prays for the believers, asking that they “may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding”. (NKJV) Verse 10 explains why this is significant. As it is written, “that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God”. (NKJV) If you’ve made it this far in this lesson, you obviously want to be pleasing to the Lord. Getting to know Him is the easiest way to start! Trust me, once you get close to the Lord, you will see that there is no other place better than His bosom. There is peace in His word. There is happiness in His word. You will be so overjoyed with His goodness that the only thing you will want to do is let others know how astounding He is! But let me not get too carried away. His omniscience and goodness alone will have me talking your head off for hours! Maybe another time. 

To get us back on track, I want to discuss holiness and how we should “not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of [our] minds”. (Rom. 12:2, NKJV). Just last week at my job, I had an older woman ask me to pray for her. Not only did she ask me to pray for her, but she poured her heart out to me before doing so. She wanted to know why she was being attacked by Satan and why she felt the way she did. This was a very significant moment in my life, and if God is willing, I won’t ever forget it. She could have called her friend. She could have gone to one of our older coworkers that can possibly relate to her better than I could since I’m only old enough to be her daughter. But instead, she came to me. At that moment, I was wondering “Why me? Why am I being put in this position?” But when she looked at me with tears in her eyes and said “Kayla, can you PLEASE pray for me? I NEED you to pray for me”, I knew then that she trusted that my prayer would make it to the Lord. She knew that my prayer would be answered. Why? Because of how I carry myself at my job.

Every chance I get, I have my bible open, studying the Word of God. I encourage and uplift others. I dress modestly. I speak highly of the Lord and His Church. I try my best to remain positive regardless of the current situation; no matter what, I turn it back to God and let them know that the best solution is to lay it in His hands. This sets me apart from others here. This is why she came to me for guidance and comfort. (And yes, I did reassure her that God is the ultimate Comforter). 1 Pet 1:15 tells us to be holy in ALL of our conduct, just as the Lord is holy. One thing I noticed as I’ve gotten older is that the way you carry yourself determines how people treat you and how they behave in your presence (for the most part). As I’ve grown closer to the Lord, it’s created distance between certain individuals and me. When I’m present, there are some that try to keep their language clean, some that suddenly begin to discuss the bible, and some simply just walk away. I’m okay with it all. Because it’s just a reminder that I’m doing something right. They may have a funny way of showing it, but I definitely have their respect. And it’s a pleasuring feeling to know that I’m letting the Lord’s light shine through my daily actions. Don’t just be different, be set apart!

And lastly, let’s talk about ways we can exemplify faithfulness. I feel like this is another attribute I can talk about for hours and hours. Because being faithful can go in multiple directions, but end at the same destination. When I hear the word “faithful” I think of loyalty, devotion, consistency, and honesty; just to name a few. All which can describe our God. But HOW can we be this way? I’d like to say we can start by keeping the Lord’s commands just as He keeps His word. How many times have you told someone you were going to do something, but didn’t? How many times have you changed your mind about the way you feel about something/someone? How often do you decide “Ehh, this isn’t it anymore” and move on to the next thing? None of us can count! Because we are human; we’re not unchangeable like God is. But If we’re loyal to the Lord, our loyalty to others and other things will fall in place. I have a great example! And I’m sure some of you that have little children in your lives can probably relate.

There was this one particular day my four year old son asked if we could play together when we got home. Of course I told him yes, that’s my baby. I don’t ever want to tell him no. But it didn’t become a problem until I had to live up to that once we made it home. The senior citizen in me wanted to lay in bed as badly as a fish needs water. But I knew that I had to keep my word and not be a liar. Not only that, my husband and I try our best to make sure we are setting the best example for our son. If we’re lying to him about something as simple as playing, what does that say about us? What is that teaching him? It’s important for us as Christians to mean what we say and say what we mean, without making any promises (James 5:12). In Colossians 3:9, Paul told the saints in Colosse to “not lie to one another”. (NKJV) This also, will help you to think before you speak to ensure that what you are saying is true, and something you can measure up to. 

Now that we’ve discussed what godly means, and how to be godly, let’s float back up to the top and talk about WHY we should be godly. I feel like this answer is fairly easy: BECAUSE GOD COMMANDS US TO BE! In Leviticus 11:44, God tells His people “For I am the LORD your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. For I am the LORD your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy.” (NKJV) True enough this was said in the Old Testament, and He was speaking to the people of Israel, but we have to keep in mind that we are talking about a FAITHFUL and UNCHANGING God here! Thousands of years ago He commanded His children to be holy, and He still demands the same of us today, tomorrow, and forever. With forever in mind, that’s another reason to be godly: there is absolutely no way we will have eternal life in Heaven if we are not! Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to Me ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven.” (NKJV) Get to know the Lord and His will for us. Obey His commandments. Love Him and His children. Do these things, and you will be well on your way to being the godly child that He wants us to be. Thank you for talking with me. Let’s walk with Him.