… and to perseverance, godliness;
Summary: Cleanliness may be next to godliness, but the two words mean very different things.
What do you think of when you read the word “godliness?”
When I turned and asked my wife that question, she responded with, “Being perfect.” That sums up how I feel about the word, too. But that is not what Peter meant.
When Moses first met God at the burning bush, he displayed godliness. Moses, raised like an Egyptian prince, is now an outcast. He escaped to Midian, where he became a shepherd. It was this Moses that God called to be his prophet.
“When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, ‘Moses! Moses!’
“And Moses said, ‘Here I am.’
“’Do not come any closer,’ God said. ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.’ Then he said, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’ At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.” (Exodus 3: 4-6)
When Moses hid his face, he was showing reverence for God. This is the godliness that Peter is talking about.
Another example that comes to mind is David.
The story of David that I have in mind is a kind of “story within a story.” In this story, King David is bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. The process for doing this was very elaborate, and throughout it all, David showed the highest respect for God. Animal sacrifices marked every sixth step taken by those carrying the ark. A great crowd followed the processions, and important people of all kinds were in attendance.
In the middle of all of this pomp and ceremony, King David danced before the ark. But this was not a formal dance, and it did not impress anybody. David’s wife, Michal, described it this way:
“When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, ‘How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!’” (2 Samuel 6:20)
When his wife reprimanded him for humiliating himself in front of everyone, David replied:
“ I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes.” (2 Samuel 6:22)
This willingness to be humiliated before people, in order to better honor God, is godliness. David cared nothing for what other people thought of him. All that was important was what God thought of him. This is true godliness.
Moses was not perfect. Not by a long shot. Neither was David. We have the written record of both these men’s lives to testify about their human weaknesses. Yet both men honored God above all else. Both men displayed godliness.
And that is what Peter wants us to do, too.
Application: Godliness, as Peter uses the word here, is a deep form of reverence.
Food for Thought: What happens to our Christian walk if we allow ourselves to live with a wrong understanding of a word like ‘godliness?’
I think our heads would become so puffed up that our heads would explode,..
Toward the end of reading this a thought came to my mind about “Godliness”
When I was at one of the churches I have attended,..the worship team leader asked me to sing,..I was kinda taken back,..because I don’t know how to sing,..the music teacher told me when I was younger I was out of tune,..then being asked to sing at church on the worship team in front of people,..what! Really! ME! Sing?
One thing that stuck with me is what the leader told me,..he said to me,..John,..when you sing you are singing to an audience of One,..all the rest of these people get to benefit from you singing to God,..the first song I got to sing was,..How Great Thou Art,..after service over one guy came up to me and said,..Wow,..John I didn’t know you knew how to sing,..I looked at him and said,,..wow,..I didn’t know I could sing either,..
One thing for sure is when I got behind that microphone singing to God,..my heart was being poured out in a way that I have never experienced before,..Praise to God,.. whom all blessings flow
It is as certain as said in the application Jeff,..a deep form of reverence for God,..
Brother John ,
You are full of surprises! What a wonderful memory of a very special moment. What a wise worship team leader!
As always, my friend, thank you for sharing. 🙂
Side thought: I have heard that phrase all my life “cleanliness is next to godliness.” I have always heard it when it was time to take a bath or clean my face. I never really understood it, I thought it was something parents said to their kids. Reading what you wrote about reverence, David, and Moses, the phrase now actually makes more sense to me. If one comes “clean” to God, one is taking a step to reverence.
What happens to our Christian walk if we allow ourselves to live with a wrong understanding of a word like ‘godliness?’ I think short answer is we begin to turn the focus of our lives on ourselves, instead of God. The word “godliness” invokes (at least in my mind) becoming like God. Now, I’m not talking about lightening bolts (lol); I’m talking about taking on the attributes that God shows (in scripture). I think it can be an easy and innocent mistake to make. “I display ‘godliness’ because I display…” One might then tend to focus on their behavior in order to be viewed as “godly” rather than surrendering to the Holy Spirit, and working on their relationship with God. That would make our walk with the Lord “fizzle” to say the least.
I grew a little in the Lord today; thank you Jeff for posting this.
Chris,
What an honor to be part of your growth in Christ! That is what this blog is all about. Thank you for sharing that with us!
As to your thoughts on godliness, I agree. It is easy to get into the “little god mode” and want to start thundering at people instead of serving them in love.
Thank you brother. Another good devotion today. And I appreciate the comments. Good stuff.
I also think that when we take on the wrong meaning of a word like godliness and adopt it as truth, we read into Scripture meaning as opposed to drawing out meaning from the text. In hermeneutical terms, that is eisogesis. We put our own meaning on the text that in reality is not there. Exegesis is drawing accurate meaning from the text that is intended by the original author (ultimately the Holy Spirit). Of course, when we add to the text we are on dangerous ground.
Thank you, Rich!
I hate it when I am on thin ice-o-gesis! 🙂
I’m glad you are keeping an eye on me!!
09-16-2021, 2 Peter 1:6c, What happens to our Christian walk if we allow ourselves to live with a wrong understanding of a word like ‘godliness?’
When God called me through the power of the Holy Spirit, I was terrified by the conviction of my sins and a view of judgement to come. (John16:8-13) I went to the church as directed by God, both ashamed and fearful as I sat among all these ( Godly ) people listening this one man dressed in beautiful robes, speaking words which at times were far beyond my understanding. I knew I had no place among these obviously very Godly people. They were my definition of godliness.
Within weeks, God had brought me together with a man He sent me to this church to meet, who got me into Bible Study Fellowship, and I began studying the Bible. I put tabs in it and took it to church with me each Sunday. As the weeks turned to months, to my 2nd year. I knew why I was there but I wondered why everyone else was there. None of the people I had seen as godly carried Bibles, most of the words from the pastor had to do with the psychology of men, and Readers Digest. The men in Bible Study Fellowship had now become Godly people, my definition of godliness had changed.
I found a Bible based church and NOW I was surrounded by ( Godly ) people, all bringing their bibles to church, which they read as the preacher spoke. Here was godliness.
44 years later, I now know people or churches are not an example of godliness. All are actually “ Imperfect beings seeking to please a Perfect God. “ Just like me.
Jesus tells us we must be converted and become as little children if we hope to enter the Kingdom of heaven. Paul writes, how in our imperfect state we see in a mirror, a blurred reflection and will only find true understanding when the time of perfection comes.
Matthew 18:3, 1 Corinthians 13:12-13,
God does the work of making us more like Christ, and we participate as we continually turn from revealed sins and demonstrate our faith in obedience. The Holy Spirit empowers each as we walk in the power of the Spirit and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. It is the life of Christ in us that gives each the motivation and power to change and grow spiritually. We make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to our life. Our faith will produce a life of moral excellence which leads to knowing and walking closer with.
Phillipians 2:12–13, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Galatians 5:16-23, 2 Peter 1:5-7, John 17:17
Because of what God has done for us in Jesus, we have already been set apart for his special purposes. By the power of God’s Spirit, we pursue growing in godliness so that we more clearly reflect Jesus Christ in our lives. We will see godliness when we join Christ and become fully sanctified.
Ron,
Thank you. Very interesting story! I like how your perspective on what constitutes “godly” changed as your knowledge of God grew.