Stretch. Break. Rebuild.

Godliness grows through training—learning to contend, repent, and rise again in Christ’s finished work.

Author

David Ta
May 29, 2025

In partnership with

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"For the training of the body has limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come."
1 Timothy 4:8 (CSB)

Dear Missionaryish Family,

Training in godliness is not what I once assumed it was.

As someone trained early on in the sciences, I admit I’ve often carried a cynical, analytical lens toward humanity. Apart from God, life seems reduced to mere survival. Tooth and claw. There’s no higher rescue. No deeper meaning. Just the cold repetition of what we can measure.

But that’s not reality as God sees it.

What I learn from this verse is simple but profound. God cares about this present life, but this life is not all there is. There is another life. One that is truer, realer, fuller than anything we can imagine. A life that this one points toward. It’s really the good life…

And yet… why do I resist training in godliness?

To be honest, I struggle deeply with discipline in the digital age. My self-control around tools and distractions is sorely lacking. I make excuses. I tell myself I’ll do better tomorrow. But what I really need is the same thing a child needs when learning to kick a ball: repetition, effort, and growth through each small moment of resistance. My kids remind me of this reality everyday.

And if I’m being brutally honest with myself, I’m not very good at this godliness thing.

Sure, I can moralize. I know how to be just presentable enough for others. But God sees it all. Parts of me have healed, but other parts — infected and crusted over — still ooze out when pressure hits. I feel like I’m constantly contending, constantly crawling uphill.

Maybe that’s the point.

Godliness doesn’t magically appear overnight. It doesn’t erupt from a one-time altar call or the emotional high of a conference. Our culture tells us success comes fast, easy, and headline-worthy. But the kingdom of God grows in hidden places, in quiet rooms, in long, unseen faithfulness.

As I reflect, I find myself repenting again. Repenting for thinking I could control things. For doubting God’s goodness. For being so dissatisfied with myself and my responsibilities that I lose sight of why I was created: to honor God.

Now that I’ve recognized that... what next?

I must repent and return.

There is not one person on earth who is exempt from hard things. Pain hits everyone, just differently and for different durations. But compared to eternity, all of time here is a vapor. And Christ has already done the work that lasts forever.

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“And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool.
For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.”
Hebrews 10:10–14 (NIV)

This is the truth I must anchor myself in. Jesus’ sacrifice was once for all.
I am not training for godliness to earn love or secure my salvation. I’m training because I have been loved and already saved. I’m being made holy by the One who has already made me perfect in His eyes.

Still, I fall. Often. With my kids, my family, and with God Himself. It’s hard to look in the mirror and see anything beautiful. But the reason this training matters so much is because it’s not natural. It’s divine. And it requires divine strength.

Muscles only grow with tension. So too, the very fibers of our faith must stretch, break, and be rebuilt. This is how transformation works.

So when I mess up — and I will — I must go back to Him. Not to pay more. Not to earn more. But to believe again that nothing is left unpaid.

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“Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”
John 8:11 (CSB)

Now let’s go and serve our neighbors.

Much Love in Christ,

David & Reagan

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