“And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue;
and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance;
and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness;” II Peter 1:5-6
I have to admit, as a young woman, I thought having faith meant I was a godly girl and a good person. I believed my faith showed that I was a follower of God who accepted His Son as my Savior. However, from this study about adding to our faith, I’ve learned that believing in God doesn’t stop there. Faith alone isn’t godliness. Wait…what? Back up…could there be more to godliness than we realize?
Godly Piety
Godliness means more than just believing. Let’s look at what it actually means. The word godliness is only found in the New Testament and is mentioned fifteen times. In the Greek it means “piety.” Until I studied the definition, I would never have connected it with piety. To get the full picture, I researched a little more and found that Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language defined piety this way:
Piety – noun
1a: Piety in principle, is a compound of veneration or reverence of the Supreme Being and love of His character,
or veneration accompanied with love;
1b: Piety in practice, is the exercise of these affections in obedience to His will and devotion to His service.
This definition revealed two points. First, there’s an expression of reverence and love to God and, secondly, an exercising of obedience to His will.
I definitely had a skewed perspective of piety. I knew it related to being pious but only heard that used in a negative context when someone referenced another person with disgust and said, “Look at her, she’s so pious.” That instilled a perception in me that a pious person was someone with an arrogant, better-than-everyone attitude. I was wrong.
Being pious is different. It means, “marked by or showing reverence or devotion for deity…” (Merriam Webster’s 2021 Online Dictionary)
This can also include others but we are discussing the piety that pertains to godliness.
Piety in Principle
Godly piety in principle is showing reverence and love to the “Supreme Being.” These are specific holy actions shown specifically to our Holy God. It expresses who we have faith in and the priority He has in our hearts and homes.
As women of faith, our life should display piety. God instructed us to love Him completely with our whole heart.
“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind,
and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.” Mark 12:30
Adding godliness to our faith drives us to Holy behavior stirred by a reverent love for Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2)
Piety in Practice
To put piety into practice, we must exercise obedience to God. If we reverence and love Him, we’ll serve Him by obeying His Word and will. The question is; are we willing to follow His instructions and live the life of faith He desires for us?
Let’s do it together. Grab your clippers and cut a stem of godliness to add to your vase of faith.
“Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey;
whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” Romans 6:16
Bring It Home
Is godliness part of our faith in principle and practice?
Praying for you as we grow together,
Smiles, BRC
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