Spiritual Health and Exercise

This past Sunday, I spoke at a Sunday night service about Spiritual Health and Exercise. This mental image came to me when I started to recognize how many individuals around me were becoming heavily involved in dieting to lose weight and exercising to get in shape. How much do we do this with our faith though?
In the scripture of 1 Timothy 4:1-16, we are taught about three main categories of the good servant and his/her progression. We can break it down to the good minister, the godly minister and the growing minister of Christ. Within these breakdowns, we can take it a step further to think about the way these categories are represented and can relate it to the following: Spiritual Nourishment, Training in godliness, and Missions.

Spiritual Nourishment: Especially in verse 6 of this passage, we are told to be nourished by what is right, and that is the word of God. You must choose to accept the nourishment that God provides for you to be healthy in your faith, and use it to be fed. To sustain nourishment, one must habitually take in the word of God and not go to Him only in times of need. To be fed to know that His word is needed no matter how hungry we are for God. Typically, those involved with ministry become involved so intensely with their programs, that they assume the work they are doing and the feedback they receive are all they need to see Christ moving in their life. Even with our other jobs, God's word is often neglected for other priorities on our to-do lists.  I know this to be wrong. Personal time with Christ is how you develop a relationship and learn to be fed with the wisdom God has called you to receive. Those who are fed can feed others, so much cannot be done as a Christian if we are not taking in Christ as our nourishment.

Training in godliness: This is like your exercise routine, except with the focus on making everything you do be worthy of Christ. Genuine godliness is the life of faith strengthened by the training in the word of God. As individuals, we fall into the depths of sin, but by training in godliness, we become aware of those sinful natures and turn towards the only way we should live. In 1 Timothy 4, we learn that some will try to sway us to believe that their should be complete abstinence from food and marriage is not permitted, but this is not the true way of life. As 1: Timothy 4: 8 tells us, these physical temptations can be of some value over time (in the form of general sacrifice as a form of worship), but godliness is the only thing valuable in every way.

Missions: Is this not an urgent matter? How are others to be fed and be able to exercise their faith if they do not know what to believe? In the NRSV version, we are told we will toil and struggle, which means to make every last effort with all of your being to see, feel, and be one with Christ in all that you do.

Good Physical Exercise has many positive effects on the body, but some that are most well-known really relate to how we live out Christ more once we Spiritually exercise. Our breathing becomes more efficient to help us endure longer workouts and this can truly relate to us breathing in Christ more deeply. How can we have a healthy breath? Our bodies will also grow stronger in muscle strength and bone density. This provides a more solid foundation for us to move further with our exercise in places we were too weak to carry on before. God strengthens us when we exercise in our faith. We learn to believe in Him in ways we were too weak to say we could before. Lastly, recovery rates after injury decrease if we consistently workout. During our times where we need healing, do we turn to God to make us stronger? If we build up this foundation in Christ and can cast out physical temptation and sin, and we know Him on a completely personal level, will we know to turn to Him, in times of good and times of injury? The answer is yes.

We are given the fuel and the ability to exercise our faith, so how do we walk as a servant?

Measure our walk- Know the preaching and practices you use to challenge others and be challenged yourself.
Mandate your walk- Reject those philosphies and teachings that do not reflect godliness or speak out against God.
Maintain your walk- Be constantly exercising in your spirituality, through nourishment and practice.
Manners for your walk: Study and read the word of God continually, do not neglect the gifts you have been given by Christ, and never cease to stop loving Him and devoting yourself to God.

Take time to be nourished and exercise. You will be stronger with Christ.