Godliness

Godliness is a word that long puzzled me. God has a lot of attributes, and I was never really sure which one the Gospel authors meant. But I think I get it now.

What separates God from man is that God can see the whole of time, from beginning to end, and all His plans take that into account.

What separates Man from God's lesser creations is that we have the ability to see the future. Dimly, imperfectly, and theoretically, but we can. A dog doesn't think about tomorrow. A person does.

A person can, in fact, project and plan for unseen years down the road. And the farther into the future the planning, the more like God he becomes. We are at our most Godlike when we are planning for the future.

Godliness - foresightedness

Satan prefers that we would not become like our Father, and often suggests the less rigorous path of planning no farther than what we have in range of our senses. Just like a dog. It's easier. It's more convenient. But it neglects our godliness.

The essence of Satan's temptations is always shortsightedness, and that's what ungodliness is.

Ungodliness - shortsightedness

UPDATE 4-24-20:

Godliness is "horizon vision" - gazing as far as we can to determine how to set our course.
Ungodliness is "shoetop vision" - never gazing beyond our own toes, and likely walking in circles.

Why would I as a non-believer have chosen godliness? Because it felt better. It clicked. It was harmonious. It was unifying to body and soul. It made me feel Christlike, even if I didn't have that name for that feeling at the time.

UPDATE 8-21-20

In the scriptures, the opposite of godliness is worldliness.

UPDATE 4-24-22

Godliness means letting wisdom, not mood, dictate your actions.