“I bet you feel better.”
That’s what someone told me recently. Our conversation had moved to my weight loss this year. So far, I’ve lost roughly fifty pounds. As much as I love chocolate and tacos, it was time to get serious about my health. And, of course, I do feel better.
That’s why I chuckled when I read from 1 Timothy this morning. The line that got me was “while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:8). It’s a comparison worth reflecting on: How we do physical training for our bodies and godliness training for our souls.
Physical training brings to mind gyms, weights and sometimes strange fitness equipment. We motivate ourselves to get running or walking. We do all that because we recognize the value of taking care of our bodies. Some value? Your health improves with physical training. You tend to live longer and have better quality of life. That sounds like a lot to be grateful for.
Of course, the idea isn’t that there’s no value in physical training. But our willingness to train ourselves in godliness has its value, too. And for every bit of worth physical training has, “godliness is valuable in every way.” Your godliness influences every part of your life. And your physical abilities decrease over time. Your godliness tends to increase.
Now, this may sound obvious to you. My experience tells me, though, there are many of us who don’t realize how important this is.
This is where all our talk about the means of grace and acts of devotion takes shape. Every time you pray, you’re building new godliness muscle mass. When you worship, serve or give, godliness is growing. No pain, no gain is what we say to encourage our physical training. When it comes to godliness, maybe we could say, “No zeal, no feel.”
You feel better when you take care of yourself. But your physical health impacts others, too. Likewise, your godliness impacts the people around you. And you better understand the kind of connection God desires to have with us all.
So, keep training in godliness. Don’t go to church this weekend. Work those worship muscles into shape!
Stay blessed…john
