Godliness is the end, not a means
1 Timothy 6:12, 19While studying for this message, I noticed the repeated phrase toward the end of 1 Timothy 6: take hold of eternal life. It then struck me that this directive is in the present tense. This does not make sense if eternal life is some kind of prize achieved in the afterlife. However, knowing that Christ came to give us the abundant life (John 10:10) we should be living in a godly way now.
Godliness is what we should be pursuing. When we pursue godliness, it naturally follows that we are fleeing carnality. In a sense, God never asks us to remove something from our life--that would only leave us empty. What God does is place wholesome things in our lives which effectively push out the depriving things. That is why we never miss out on life when we follow after Christ, we are actually gaining more than we ever could imagine!