I Work Out

Girl look at that body…  nuff of that.   So Paul had his ideas related to physical exercise and he… ain’t afraid to show it, show it , show it… seriously, enough.  

When instructing Timothy on the “good doctrine” of a servant of Christ Jesus, Paul discusses how one should approach training in Godliness.  According to Paul, “bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, and holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” (1 Timothy 4:8)  Paul’s opinion appears to be that a person who trains the physical body will get some benefits from that training. But it is evident in this passage that in Paul’s view these physical benefits were significantly less important than the benefits received from training “yourself in Godliness”.  In fact, in verse 9 and immediately following his statement on the greater benefit of training in Godliness, Paul interjects that his saying is “trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance.” In other words, Timothy, you better believe it!

Oh, but how difficult it can be to train in Godliness.  It seems at times that training our spirit is like doing max reps for days over and over again without reprieve.  I mean the very word, Godliness, is defined in our dictionary as meaning: the quality of being devoutly religious.  Ah, there it is. The definition reveals why training in Godliness seems so difficult. Religion is a weight we were never intended to lift.  Yes, we are to be devoted to God and to the things of God. But to be devoutly religious means something entirely different. Religion is a manmade institution and being devoted to it is more than a man can bear.  God is neither made by man nor controlled by man and therefore devotion to God is something completely different than devotion to religion.

So training in devotion to religion is like lifting max reps without a spotter.  Pile the religion on and get to it, Christian. Work yourself into a lather to reach a mark that is manmade and unattainable.  Training in Godliness, true Godliness or devotion to God, is training with a spotter, and the spotter is the One who can lift even the heaviest of weights.  Training in Godliness is training with the Lord Jesus Christ and with His direction and His strength we can accomplish all things.

So, run around the block, lift some weights and yoga it up.  But remember to lift up some prayer as well. Break open a Bible daily.  Seek out those who need help and help them. Put some training into that which will never pass away and does not grow weak or frail.  Always making sure to leave the religion out of it, focus your attention on training in the knowledge of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

1 Timothy 4:6-10