You Can’t Just Sit At Church And Become Spiritually Strong, Just Like You Can’t Just Sit At The Gym And Expect To Become Physically Strong..

BY CHARLES HAMRICK

Most human beings have uttered the words, or some form of them, “I am out of shape” or “I need to get in shape” at some point in their lives.  Regardless of the reason behind wanting to get in shape, most all people have an innate desire to be in better shape than they currently are.  We do this as humans because we want our body to both look and perform better.  The only way to accomplish this goal, despite anything you may have heard on late night television, is to work at it.  There is no easy fix or simple way to get in shape.  Its not a click of a button or some magical pill you can take.

If you know me, you know that I’m not what you would call a “gym rat” or someone who is going to work out every day of the month. I do know people (one who writes often on this blog quite often, no names mentioned, haha) that works out nearly every day and feels lost if they don’t.  There is nothing wrong with this, they just realize that to stay strong and improve the shape they are in they need to keep working at it everyday.  I admire their commitment to their health and am always impressed with the daily dedication.

Similar to the way we have to work out to keep our physical bodies in shape, we have to “work out”, to stay in shape spiritually as well.  You can’t just sit at church and become spiritually strong, just like you can’t just sit at the gym and expect to become physically strong.  You have to put some work into it on a daily basis.  God wants to teach you and interact with you daily.  He wants you to pick up His Word and read it (daily) and learn from it.  He wants you to ask questions and dig deeper to understand His Word.  God loves to speak to us, and loves us to understand how to speak to Him.

You will start to see yourself getting stronger as you continue to daily spend time with Him in some form or fashion.  If this is not something you currently do, I encourage you to start TODAY and give it a shot for a certain amount of time.  While I am a firm believer that we have a responsibility to keep ourselves in good physical heath, being good stewards of the body that we were given for our time on this earth, I believe even more strongly that we have a responsibility to be spiritually strong, for the battles we will face throughout our lives.  A few of my friends are starting a 24-Day Challenge today for physical health reasons where they focus on eating healthy, cleansing and putting good things (vitamins / supplements / etc.) in their system.  I would suggest you start a 24-Day Spiritual Challenge, where you spend time with God every day for 24 days, in the Bible, in prayer, in meditation, in church and any other place you can get yourself into the presence of God and see what He does for you and tells you.  Focus on it and I promise you will come out in better shape than you did going in!

1 Corinthians 6:19-20
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”

1 Timothy 4:7-8
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.