Categories of Godliness

As usual, the title is meant to make you look. But I am not sure the title is accurate. How can we categorize godliness? Oh, sure, the systematic theologian can categorize anything, but I much prefer an inductive approach to things. Yet, I can't escape the systems I live with; so I dive in and start putting things in boxes.

I started with the passages I listed the other day: Colossians 3:12-17, 1 Timothy 6:11, Galatians 5:22, Ephesians 5:8-9, 2 Peter 1:5-9, James 1:2-4. I find myself asking daily for the various characteristics to be more evident in my life. But the challenge is not just to acknowledge the transformed life. It is to LIVE the transformed life. Then I began to search general systematic categories that might encompass the characteristics listed in the verses above. God can be described in an endless amount of ways--and we would still never completely get our minds or our words around his character. So, I limited myself to 4 basic, and broad, categories.

The four categories are 1) God is light (1 John 1:5), 2) God is Love (1 John 4:8), 3) God is Faithful (1 John 1:9, 1 Cor. 10:13), and 4) God is Good (Psalm 73:1). Now, I realize that each of these categories includes a variety of characteristics of God, and they are not comprehensive. For me, they provide a starting point for developing a heart and mind for godliness.

So, I have broken down the listings above into the following categories.

God is Light:
Holiness
Righteousness
Self-control
Knowledge

God is Love:
Love
Patience
Gentleness
Kindness

God is Faithful:
Endurance
Faith/Faithfulness
Humility


God is Good:
Goodness
Contentment
Thankfulness
Joy
Peace

I am hopeful that I will be able to refine these categories further at some point, but this is my sermon direction for August 2008.

I hope to understand God better through this study. I also hope to find a solid foundation on which to make life changes--to be more like God and less like the world.