TRAINING FOR GODLINESS

'Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.' 1 Timothy 4:8

For the past two months, I have been busy coaching Joshua in his studies. I never really spent so much time coaching him when he was in his lower primary years. But somehow this year I felt the prompting to devote some of my time to his studies. I felt like I was led by the Spirit. I was trying to inculcate a discipline of him doing assessments on a daily basis. As he had not been doing that for the past two years, it was initially quite difficult for me to get him to do it. 

His resistance came up almost every time I told him to do his worksheets. It wasn't that I was 'kiasu' about his studies but I felt the need to get him off YouTube and handphone games. He was in the afternoon session for the past two years so there wasn't much time to play these games after he came back from school. But this year, being in the morning session, he had a lot of time in the afternoons so if I did not purposely plan his activities, he would take the easy way out to fill his time with games or videos. Just like our mind, if we do not purposely fill it with God's word, it will not be left empty. The world will try to fill it with all kinds of nonsense things. The same goes for a child's time and his mind.

Well it wasn't easy for me because it took me some discipline too. I couldn't just throw him some worksheets and leave him to do them by himself. No, no. It doesn't work that way. I had to sit beside him and be there to answer his questions or help him when he was stuck with a question. I had to intentionally and purposely think of things to let him do everyday. Like what assessments to do, or online tuition or compositions etc.

I thank God for guiding me each and every day. I did not even know how to plan for him...like which assessment to do. I did not follow a schedule or timetable. I just went with the flow, whatever I felt like giving him on that particular day. But again it wasn't easy to get him to do those assessments. He would sometimes whine or groan. But no choice, he just got to do it. At times I wondered if doing those worksheets really helped him. Whether it was worth it, whether my efforts would pay off. I know that training is tough for him. I know he don't like it because he is being stretched. But in future this training will bear very visible fruits for him to see. And he will not regret spending all this time doing this but will thank me for it. 

Sometimes I feel discouraged and want to give up but the Lord reminded me of Proverbs 22:6 'Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.' Training will always be uncomfortable and even painful at times. But it will always be profitable for us. The truth was when Joshua was groaning because of the training, I was groaning too. I had to persevere because I knew after he reached a certain point, it would be much easier for him. I am inculcating a habit and a discipline in him so that he will do it even without me asking him to in future. It would be automatic. That will be the day I know my efforts have paid off. 

If physical training can provide us with such benefits, I cannot imagine how much more will training for godliness benefit our soul, in this life and the life after?