But have nothing to do with irreverent and silly myths.  Rather, train yourself in godliness, for the training of the body has a limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.  1 Timothy 4:7 HCSB

My great niece went from a very liberal private school in our area to a private Christian school this past school year.  She struggled with meeting new people.  She had spent three years at her previous school.  I was so excited that she was going to this Christian school where she would be able to grow in the Lord.  But, I must admit that I was broken hearted the first few weeks to hear how sad and lonely she was after leaving all of her friends from the other school.  As time went on, she began to enjoy her new school.  She adored her teacher and made new friends.  Last week her award ceremony was held and I went hoping that she would not be disappointed.  I knew that she had faced a much tougher curriculum and had come from being behind in the work to rising to the top.  Each child was presented with a character award.  This award best reflected what character the teacher saw in them from day to day.  There were awards like integrity, honor, courage and so on.  I listened as each award was explained and a child was called up to accept it. Finally, came the award for godliness.  The teacher explained this award as being the child that exhibited godly character in all situations.  Then she called my niece’s name.  I don’t cry easily, but I did tear up.  Then as the scholastic awards were read they went through spelling, reading, math, science and my niece received no award.  I wasn’t surprised knowing that she was way behind when the school year started as there were things from her old school that had not been taught.  But, then they gave the award for Bible class and guess who won that award?  Yep, my little niece.

What makes me so excited about this is that this is all she needs, right?  We know from Matthew 6:33 that if we seek God’s kingdom, first then all else will be added to us.  This means that if we exhibit godly character and study and stay in God’s Holy word that we are good to go.  We have all we need.  God will take care of the rest.

Let me ask you this today, if your friends or your co-workers had to give someone a character award for godliness, would it go to you?  Would anyone even nominate you for it?  When it all blows up, do you exhibit godly character?  I know there are times when I fall short.  I know there are times that I must drop to my knees and ask for God’s forgiveness.

This is a time of year when people are graduating and moving on up.  Kindergarteners are moving to first grade.  Eighth graders are preparing for their first year of high school.  High school graduates are preparing to go to college.  College students are preparing for grad school or careers in their field. Have you graduated from sinner to Christian, from baby Christian to mature Christian?  Have you learned to walk in faith?  Have you learned to walk in the spirit and not in the flesh?

When we exhibit a godly character, we honor God in all that we do. When we have this character, we live with honor and integrity.  When we live this way, God blesses us. So, today I encourage you to take a page out of my 7 year old nieces playbook.   Exhibit godliness, study your bible, trust in God to lead you in all that you do.  You’ll be so glad you did.

Have a great day!