“Do you know know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever” (1 Corinthians 9:24-25).

Training is hard.

Discipleship is hard.

Becoming like Christ is hard.

Because Godly training and Christ-like discipleship is difficult it is easy to get discouraged. The reality is that no matter how much we improve, we will never be like Christ. No matter how much we try to live the perfect life, we can’t do it.

But, here’s the secret to discipleship. God knows all this. The goal of spiritual training is not perfection but progress. The main question to consider is whether you are making progress. Are you better today than you were a year ago? Congratulations! Way to go! Keep at it!

If you’re not better today than you were a year ago, let’s get back to training. Let’s get back to working on progress.

You can do it. You will be so much happier a year from now.

This is what spiritual training looks like:

1. Read God’s word every day
2. Pray. Set aside a time to pray every day
3. Worship. Make worshiping God on God’s day non-negotiable. You can do it in person and you can worship online. Just make sure you worship
4. Serve. Find a way to make a difference

Let’s get training!

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you” (James 1:5).

How do you know what God’s will is? How do you know if what you’re feeling, thinking, sensing is from God or not? How do you know?

Is it possible to discern God’s will for sure? How can you tell that the things you’ve been thinking all day is a prompting from God or the result of a terrible night’s sleep from a bad pepperoni pizza? How do you know?

The first rule of thumb is that if it’s from God, it will not contradict what God has already revealed in God’s word. If it goes against what God teaches, that is not from God.

I saw this on social media pasted by @godlyunity and found it helpful:

• If it’s from God it won’t steal your joy.
• If it’s from God it won’t take life from you.
• If it’s from God it won’t damage your confidence.
• If it’s from God it won’t rush you into decisions.
• If it’s from God it won’t make you chase it.
• If it’s from God it won’t ask you to compromise.

If it’s from God, it will not go against what God has already said in God’s word.

“Follow me” (Matthew 9:9).

“Follow me.”

This is one of the most repeated invitations of Jesus. This is the essential quality of a disciple of Jesus. This is the essential character of being a follower of Jesus.

Hebrews chapters 11 functions as the “Hall of Fame” of biblical heroes. They are all there. Abraham, Issac, Jacob, Moses, Rahab, David, Samuel. What made these men and women heroes of the faith? What is the key differentiating factor between the heroes of faith and the rest of us?

Following God. Following Jesus.

I bet ya…not one of these guys thought of themselves as heroes. Abraham didn’t walk around singing, “Father Abraham had many sons…had many sons had Father Abraham.” Moses didn’t know that people would be looking up to him as a hero. He was just following what God commanded him to do.

Not one of the heroes in the Hall of Fame of faith saw themselves as heroes. They were merely following what God commanded them to do. Not one of them walked around saying, “Let’s do some heroic things today that will be remembered for the ages!”

They just did what God told them to do. Doing what God told them to do, following God, made them men and women of character, honor, and integrity. Following God made them into God-honoring parents, children, friends, and leaders.

That’s the key – follow Jesus. Do what he says. Do what he does. Follow Jesus. The goal isn’t to do heroic things. The goal is to do what God tells us…to follow Jesus.

And as we follow Jesus, we might just end up being the heroes of faith in our day for our time.