Training sounds like a chore. I'm not a fitness fanatic in the slightest, and if you asked me to go for a run for fun (what?!?!), I'd tell you to jog on.
But we know that our lives are better when we're balanced, with the right amount of exercise, good diet etc. We need to do certain things to stay healthy and fit. Eating right, exercising, limiting the alcohol and the caffeine intake are easy and necessary steps we all know we need to do daily.
The problem with this is it all takes discipline. Fast food, for example, is so quick and convenient, that it's all too easy to slip into a cycle of reaching for the biscuits or crisps when we feel peckish, rather than preparing that bowl of fruit. Learning and practising good disciplines, to keep us healthy, are vital. Making that salad in the morning before work to take for lunch takes effort, but it's better than popping along to the local burger bar at the end of the road!
We know we need to take care of ourselves physically. But what about other areas of our life?
If taking care of our physical body is so important, what about our spiritual well being?
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This area is actually mentioned more times than you might imagine in the new testament. The author of Hebrews talks about running his race with perseverance, and they're talking about their spiritual journey. Just as our physical bodies need to be in as good as shape as possible to get a satisfying and long life, we need to keep our spiritual lives healthy to live out our spiritual journey too.
1 Timothy 4 v 7-8 says:
"Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come"
We need to train ourselves, and in fact our spiritual training is more important. Our bodies will wear out and decay eventually, but our spirits are immortal. The work we put into our spiritual lives now will last into eternity.
So, here are a few things we need to do to ensure we are living spiritually healthy lives:
Read the Word of God. Daily! No need to elaborate, we all know we need to do this.
1a) Study the Word, getting it deep inside your heart. This is more than reading, it is getting the Word into our hearts so it transforms our lives. Meditating on the Word of God is good practise (Josh 1 v 8).Pray. The bible says to pray at all times in the spirit (Eph 6 v 18). Prayer is mentioned a LOT in the bible. We need to pray all the time
2a) Fasting - an area which is not given enough air time in my opinion. We should be fasting and praying (Matt 6 ), even Jesus did this. Fasting and prayer is a physical practise linked with a spiritual practice, and fasting was observed in the Old Testament too.Worship. Worship God all the time, sing out praises to Him, not just at church, but have your own praise time. We need to be praising our Lord all the time, He's a good God. Read the psalms for some help on how to call out to God, and how to worship Him.
3a) Thanksgiving. Give thanks to God all the time, every day in whatever circumstance; there's plenty to thank God for, He's done so many good things in our lives. (Psalm 9 v 1; Philippians 4 v 6-7). Praising God is linked to thanksgiving. You can say prayers of thanksgiving and sing songs of thanksgiving. Do both!
Also, maintaining an attitude of gratitude will transform your thought life too.Serving. Find your gifting and serve in that area. If you don't know what it is (I have no idea what mine is), just serve somewhere until you do. Jesus came to earth to serve, not to be served. He asks us to be imitators of Him. We are here to serve people whether we're the senior pastor or the cleaner - we're all needed, all necessary to the body of Christ and we're all equal. (Gal 5 v 13)
4a) Give joyfully. Don't be stingy. Make sure you tithe, but make sure you are giving your best to God (2 Cor 9 v 7). That means when you serve, don't do a sloppy job - give your best. You can give in so many ways, it's not just about money. Give your time, your friendship, your talents to serve others, and do it with a heart of love. Ask your pastor where you can serve if you aren't sure what to do.Submit to God and His Word. One of the most prevalent issues I see today in the Christian world is a lack of submission. We need to submit to God and His word. When the Word says something we don't like and makes us feel uncomfy, we need to accept God's Word, and not run away or completely disregard the scripture and start adapting our own doctrines, or looking for somewhere that compromises the Word of God.
5a) Submit to the Church. Likewise, we need to submit to the people God has put in leadership. Are we always going to agree with them? No! Of course not. But God has put in place a model for us to follow, and He asks us to submit to the church leadership. When we have a problem with a teaching or the way things are done, we should address it maturely with an attitude of love. It may well be that you have to 'agree to disagree', but we need to disagree in an agreeable way! We are still called to submit to their leadership even when we don't quite agree (so long as they're in line with the Word of course - we must agree on the fundamental biblical doctrines of God, Jesus, His death/resurrection). Hebrews 13 v 17 - "Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account."Guard your heart. The scripture above in Timothy says to keep away from myths and old wives' tales and ungodliness. Our modern equivalent of myths and old wives tales are superstitions, false religions, and societal norms or practices that are socially acceptable but are out of line with God's Word. We need to ensure that we are not letting these things into our lives.
6a) Eye-gate and Ear-gate. What we see and what we hear is the spiritual equivalent of food that feeds our bodies. We eat either healthy food or junk food. Similarly we can feed our inner man, or our soul and spirit with good things or bad things. Proverbs 4 is a good chapter to read to help us understand this. Here are verses 23-25:
"Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life. Put away from you false and dishonest speech, and willful and contrary talk put far from you. Let your eyes look right on [with fixed purpose], and let your gaze be straight before you."
What we see and hear will be what comes out of us. So if we are reading God's Word, hearing good preaches, we will produce fruit in our lives, and we build ourselves up. But if we are continually seeing and hearing things that are out of line with God's word, perhaps watching films that we shouldn't be, and listening to the world's ways and advice (instead of seeking God's wisdom), we let things into our heart that are damaging. We must take care of what our ears and eyes are being "fed". Nourish your heart, and guard it for the springs of life flow from it!
The great thing about these things are, once we get into a habit of doing them, they're so easy. It's easy to pick up our bible in the morning instead of our phones, and read the Word for 15 minutes whilst we have a cup of tea, once we get into the habit. It's easy to pray instead of worrying. It's easy to praise and thank God instead of complaining. It's also easy to serve in church if you really want to serve the Lord. You just open your mouth and and ask where your church need an extra pair of hands. It's also, thankfully, a lot more satisfying than going for a jog!