Secrets to Godliness: How to Exercise to Spiritual Fitness
Every year millions of people decide
to get in shape, or lose that extra weight, yet few follow through with
their commitment. Why do so many struggle with an exercise regimen and
give up in despair? Most offer one of these reasons:
I have no time!
It is too boring! I just don't want to do it (too lazy or no discipline) I don't know what to do or how to do it. Who needs exercise? I don't. I'm healthy. Exercise makes me feel worse (or it's too difficult).
Very few individuals continue a
fitness program long enough to see visible results. Although exercise
involves hard work, diligence, and persistence, the many benefits make
exercise worth the effort. Some exercise to remain physically fit and
have greater energy, while others exercise to get rid of excess baggage
or because the doctor recommended it to control some health problem.
Every year many Christians make the commitment to get in-shape spiritually, yet few follow through with their commitment. Why? The same reasons people give for not physically exercising are the same excuses Christians offer for neglecting Bible study and prayer. Christians need to exercise spiritually not only to lose the weight of sin or control sinful habits, but also to maintain a healthy spiritual blood pressure. Some people only turn to God and the Bible when problems occur in their life and a minister recommends that they read their Bible or pray. A small minority exercise consistently because they love God and His Word. Those who faithfully put forth the effort to spiritually exercise reap great benefits.
It is not easy developing spiritual
fitness. Getting in shape involves discipline and a commitment to hard
work. With consistent practice, the spiritual routine eventually becomes
a habit that the Christian enjoys thoroughly and would not miss, just as
he would not miss a meal.
Benefits of Exercise
Bodily exercise profits little, but
it does profit. Exercise gives us more energy, improves our
intellectual capacity, and increases our productivity. It aids in
weight loss, and protects us from heart disease, stroke, diabetes,
high blood pressure, high cholesterol level, and osteoporosis.
Exercise improves our overall health and well being. (See 25 Ways
Exercise Benefits You.) Now, if physical exercise, which profits so
little, delivers all these benefits, how much more important is
spiritual exercise? Every Christian benefits from spiritual exercise!
Types of Exercise
A complete physical fitness routine involves several types of exercises. Stretching is a natural, relaxer that can provide relief from everyday muscle tension and stiffness. It is not only pleasurable, it can alleviate pain and potentially reduce the chance of injury. Being flexible means having the ability to use muscles and joints through their full range of motion. Good flexibility is also crucial for proper posture. Stretching helps produce and keep lubricants between the connective tissue fibers, making one more flexible. (How Far Can You Stretch? is an excellent article on the benefits of stretching and how to get started.) Aerobic exercise conditions organs and circulatory system (the heart and lungs) by forcing the body to use large amounts of oxygen and thus become more efficient at handling oxygen. Aerobic activity is necessary to strengthen the heart and aids in weight loss. Resistance or strength training builds muscles and bone density (thus preventing bone loss). It also aids in losing weight.
We Christians must stretch our
spiritual muscles through Bible study to become more flexible with the
Word of God. We must develop a consistent spiritual study and remain
faithful to see results. Finally, it is necessary that we lose that
weight of sin by building spiritual muscles through Bible study and
memorization of God's Word.
Proper Attire
Comfortable clothing
Appropriate attire is necessary for
both physical exercise and spiritual exercise. We must put on proper
attire--the armor of God (Ephesians 6), godly attitudes, and godly
fruit--and it is important to come to God in the right frame of mind.
No extra baggage.
Unless you are doing
strength-training exercises, you don't want any extra weights. We need
to set aside all weights. "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed
about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every
weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with
patience the race that is set before us. Looking unto Jesus the author
and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him
endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right
hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:1-2).
Proper Nutrition
Balanced diet
Food is the fuel for the body. We
must maintain a balanced healthy (low fat and high fiber) diet along
with exercise to have a truly healthy body. Breakfast is essential
since the "fuel gauge" is empty in the morning. Do we start
our day with God? What do we feed ourselves throughout the day:
television, worldly values? Does our spiritual diet consist of
appetizers from Sunday sermons only, or do we eat the meat of the
Word?
Plenty of water
Water is an essential ingredient of
your body and is necessary for digestion and absorption of nutrients.
Inadequate water intake causes dehydration which can affect our energy
level (fatigue). As Christians, we must drink freely of Christ and His
living Word.
Proper Lifestyle
An athlete must keep his body healthy by avoiding harmful substances such as drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes. The spiritual athlete must avoid all bad company and harmful substances.
Proper Rest and Relaxation
The athlete must get his proper
rest--both in sleep and from physical activity. The spiritual athlete
must rest in God's care.
Set Realistic Goals
What goals are we trying to
accomplish: weight loss, physical fitness, finishing or competing in a
race? We must keep going until we reach our goal and then set a new
one. What goals do we have for our spiritual life? What are we doing
to reach them? What fruits are we developing in our life?
1 Timothy 4:7-8 "Exercise thyself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profits little, but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come."
The material in this article comes
from a devotional I gave in the summer of 2000. Copyright Rachel
Keller.
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