Some truths do not age.
They do not wrinkle with time or bend beneath culture.
They stand, quiet and strong, like old trees with roots deep in something unshakable.

Paul’s words to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:6–11 feel like that. Timeless. Steady. Unshaken.

The apostle isn’t interested in ministry glitter or cultural applause. He tells his young protégé something better: Remind them of what matters. Not new ideas—but ancient ones. Not fads—but foundations.

“Put the brethren in remembrance,” he writes, “and you’ll be a good minister.”

Not flashy.
Not clever.
Just faithful.

Paul isn’t trying to raise a celebrity pastor. He’s shaping a servant. Someone who has eaten the Word himself and now feeds it to others. Someone who’s nourished in the words of faith, not starved by the world’s empty calories.

Then Paul gets practical.

“Exercise thyself rather unto godliness.”

It’s a phrase that sounds like sweat. Like early mornings with Scripture open and heart humbled. Like choosing holiness when compromise whispers your name. Paul reaches for the language of the gym—not for abs, but for the soul.

Yes, physical discipline has value. But it expires.
Godliness? It doesn’t.

“It is profitable unto all things—having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.”

Only godliness walks with you to your hospital bed.
Only godliness sits beside you in grief.
Only godliness crosses with you into eternity.

This kind of training isn’t sterile. It’s sacred. And it’s urgent. Paul’s next words make that clear: “We labour and suffer reproach…”—not for approval, but for something richer:

“Because we trust in the living God.”

This God isn’t cold or distant. He’s living. Present. Personal. He is the Savior—“of all men,” Paul says, “especially of those that believe.” His grace is wide, His love is strong, and His truth is worth every labor and every insult.

So Paul ends this section like a coach in the locker room, gripping Timothy’s shoulders:

“These things command and teach.”

Not beg. Not suggest. Command.

Because they matter.
Because they last.
Because the souls you’re leading are worth it.

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So here’s the question for all of us:

Are we training for what lasts?

Are we chasing what glimmers or what endures? Are we nourishing others with truth—or nibbling on fables ourselves?

The Word still speaks. And the whisper is clear:

Godliness is always worth the workout.
Train for what echoes into eternity.