“Pursue … godliness” (1 Timothy 6:11)
Pursuing godliness means being fully devoted to God, bearing God’s likeness, and even “being like God”. Pursuing this virtue brings blessings both in this life and in life after death (1 Timothy 4:8).
Of course, we humans can never copy God’s attributes of omniscience, omnipresence, and so on. We are not little gods. But we should reflect the Lord’s character. We need to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29).
Therefore, we should deeply desire to have our character transformed by the Holy Spirit, so that we will “be like God”.
The Lord describes Himself as “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). People who are filled with His Spirit, are characterized by “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). Do you see the similarities?!
Pursuing godliness also implies that we search our lives for things that don’t please God. We must seek to identify the sins remaining in our thoughts, words and deeds, and turn away from them. This process is called “sanctification”, and will make us increasingly holy.
Does your character reflect God?