Wanting Won’t Help

1 Timothy 4:7

…Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.

“I want, I want, I want…” My grandfather used to tell me, “Wanting never got anybody anywhere.” It’s true; an undisciplined life will lead to an insignificant being. As a child I wanted to be an astronaut, a professional baseball player, and a garbage man. I have yet to obtain any of these goals because simply “wanting” never prepared me for the job. I never enjoyed science, weight lifting wasn’t appealing to me, and taking the trash out for my mother never became a voluntary act.

I want to be known as a godly man. I want to grow in my faith and to know the Lord more intimately today than I did yesterday. These have been my wants since the age of fifteen. I have met them with some success due to the natural process of maturity and being raised under Christian parents. Nonetheless, I can’t imagine what my relationship with the Lord could look like with a little more discipline.

The Scriptures tell us that Jesus rose early in the morning to spend time with His Father. He spent time in meditation and solitude, He fellowshipped with His disciples and obeyed every will and command His Father revealed to Him. Consequently, His life resulted in monumental impact to those around Him. Sure, He was the Son of God, but He lived His life in human flesh. He did not obtain compassion for the poor, heartache for the hurt or a good name for Himself because of His deity. He obtained all of these because He lived a disciplined life. He offered His life on the cross not because He was the Son of God, but because His Father asked it of Him. A disciplined life is often the most painful.

True discipline is difficult to obtain because of its demand on your life. True discipline, though, is the gateway to freedom. It’s the road to godliness and it’s the path that we are to follow. My grandfather’s words ring true for all of us. Wanting never got any Christian any closer to God. I challenge you to give up your wants today and replace them with action. Rather than spending the entirety of your life wanting to be godly, I encourage you to follow the examples of our God as He lived life as a human. Spend time in the Scriptures, set aside time for uninterrupted communion with God. You don’t have to pray the whole time; you can just sit. Sit in solitude and listen to the Lord’s voice as He encourages, impassions, and convicts your spirit. Do it today though. A godly life isn’t brought about from want but from action.