This week's Bible study is adapted from the Bible Studies for Life curriculum.
Bible Passages: 1 Timothy 4:7-10; Titus 3:1-9
Discussion Question:
Why does growing in Christ require discipline?
Food for Thought:
We live in a culture of the easy. On desks all over the country you will find a big, round, plastic button that says, "That was easy." We want everything to be easy. Work needs to be easy. Losing weight needs to be easy. Winning needs to be easy. Too many people want following Jesus to be easy. If it's not easy, we'd rather do something else. Words like discipline, practice, training, endurance and perseverance aren't in the vocabulary of far too many people. How interesting that they are in God's vocabulary when it comes to growing in Christ.
Paul instructed Timothy to train himself in godliness because his growth in godliness would not happen automatically. Consistent and regular practice in prayer, and knowing, understanding and applying God's Word in ministry and in life would be required. The same is true for believers today. Paul wrote, "... training of the body has a limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come" (1 Tim. 4:7-10).
So how should we respond? Do we want to grow in Christ? If the answer is yes, then we need to give up our love for the convenient and the easy. How many of our coaches, bosses and teachers told us to just practice or come to work "when you feel like it"? Jesus said, "If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me" (Luke 9:23). 'Doesn't sound easy to me.
Bible Studies for Life
Bible Studies for Life is a life-stage focused family of resources that addresses key issues in the lives of adults and students. Consisting of seven curriculum lines developed for various life and generational stages plus two others designed for deeper study, all of these resources focus on the same Bible passage for each week. Information about the seven curriculum lines and more information can be found on the Internet at LifeWay.com/BibleStudiesforLife.
Other ongoing Bible study options for all ages offered by LifeWay can be found at LifeWay.com/SundaySchool.
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