The need for training

Living by faith isn’t something that comes easy. When a person first becomes a Christian, he wants to live by faith, because of the new love he feels for God. But then begins the long training process to turn that desire into reality.
Churches are supposed to help the Christian learn this process. Unfortunately there is almost no training going on in churches. The most that people experience in church are the Sunday morning sermons and a weak “prayer meeting” during the week. Bible studies are more like opinion-sharing sessions. There are no tests given to measure spiritual progress; such a thing is unthinkable in the modern church (though tests are given all the time in the business and educational world!).
Until such time as the churches wake up to their duty of preparing Christians, we will have to resort to self-discipline. This is even harder, because most people find it much easier to train in the company of like-minded believers. It’s almost impossible to find the time, or the inclination, to work on things by ourselves. So it depends on how desperate you are to be a survivor. It’s up to you to follow this training program; you aren’t going to find much help in others.
The reason that it’s easier to train with others is because some Christians have been through those rough times already. They know what it will take to survive. Like a sergeant back from the front lines, he trains the recruits in the skills that he knows they will need out there on the battlefield. He saw what worked and what didn’t work. He knows when the troops are ready. Never ask the troops themselves if they are ready! How would they know that? They want to quit long before they are good at doing anything; a person is naturally lazy when it comes to putting forth effort on goals he can’t see. So, ask someone who has been in battle to measure their progress, and don’t stop training them until he is satisfied that they are ready.
One huge problem that people have is that they think they will be equal to any situation without training. Do you remember your first attempt at riding a bicycle? It looked so easy! What a humiliation to get thrown down, and get gravel in your face and cuts on your knees. The fact that it took so long to master the thing gave us a new appreciation for those who could do it well. It turned out to be a hard-won skill.
The same goes for spiritual skills. Most Christians feel no need to train for them, because they are sure they can do what God requires of them when the time comes. They are fooling themselves. How many times, for example, has anger gotten the best of you when the situation that made you angry came upon you suddenly, without warning? Did you know that that this was a test of the state of your heart? What will you do when that situation lasts day after day, year after year, with no letup in sight? Will your anger turn into rage and murder, as it does with so many others? What do you have in your heart that you don’t know about?
And training, as we shall see, involves hard work, continuous effort, hardship, measuring your progress, and getting better at things until you can do the job to God’s satisfaction.

But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:14)