The Great Divide

The foundation of our faith is that Jesus has saved us from the enemy that has come to steal, kill, and destroy. He has set us apart for higher and more beautiful things. Elisabeth Elliot was a wise woman who said “we cannot give our hearts to God and keep our bodies for ourselves.” So many Christians have a divide between the physical and the spiritual nature of our bodies. Let’s challenge that. There are resources that God has given us on this earth to steward and use for his glory such as finances, time, and talents. I would challenge you to put your physical health into that category. If we abuse our bodies now, where will we be in 10, 20, or 50 years? Will you still be able to serve the Lord well if you continue treating your body the way you are now? We must be faithful to steward our bodies well so that we can serve the Lord in them and with them.

Kill – The Physical

The enemy comes to kill. We fight back the enemy by not allowing him to kill our physical bodies. In 2 Timothy 2:12, we learn that God has made us to be vessels set apart for holy purposes. These vessels are made of gold and silver and refined by fire to be useable. We need to challenge the idea of what comfort is, and how we can allow our bodies to be molded and refined by doing things that aren’t easy. This allows us to be molded to serve the purposes Jesus has for us. When we are physically fit, God can call us to do anything: to join him wherever he is working. God doesn’t need us to be able to accomplish his purposes, but he allows us to be a part of where he is moving. If we are not physically fit enough to pursue what God has called us to, then we are the ones who miss out on the blessing of being where God is working. The enemy wants to use sloth and gluttony to bring you to an early end, so his favorite place for you to be is on the couch.

Steal – The Emotional

The enemy comes to steal. In the realm of our physical bodies, he uses our health to steal away from our relationships and to steal our joy. Few things can cause a wedge between people like shame and guilt. Almost everyone at some point has felt shame about a food or fitness decision and tried to hide their poor choices. When we make poor choices repeatedly, it trains us to operate in secrecy and we fail to share our lives well with others. Our physical health can negatively affect relationships, but it can also positively affect them. When we are healthy we are filled with energy to breathe life into those around us. We have energy to play with our kids and initiate physical intimacy with our spouses. Being physically fit gives us a self confidence that we can use to have a greater degree of vulnerability in relationships. One of the beautiful side effects of getting physically fit is that working through pain on a physical level teaches us how to cope and work through Forging a healthy culture that empowers you to thrive in effective long-term ministry. 2 pain on an emotional and spiritual level. Physical discipline always results in stronger spiritual discipline. When we learn to deny the flesh consistently, it gives us a stronger resolve in the instantaneous desires of the flesh such as impatience, irritability, and lust.

To the moms: You are under specific attack. It is so easy to let the enemy tell you that if you take time to take care of yourself that you are taking time away from caring for your family—that you don’t have time and you can’t be consistent anyway, so why try? I want to challenge that. Taking care of your physical body is the least selfish thing you can do for your family. It teaches your children that physical health is important and specifically, that their health is important. Working out also releases the endorphins you need to feel joy in serving your family. Physical fitness is proven stress reliever. Moms, you work so hard and so diligently to serve your families, thank you for set- ting that example for the rest of us; but please remember to take care of yourself.

Destroy – The Spiritual

The enemy seeks to destroy our identity in Christ. If he can lie to us about who we are physically, then he can use that to paralyze us. We must actively fight against that. Learning to discipline ourselves physically teaches us humility. We must recognize our physical weaknesses and address them head on. This type of training teaches us to be humble and vulnerable when addressing our weaknesses spiritually. To see success in health and physical fitness, we must be able to see the root cause of our behavior. What motivates us to make unhealthy choices? When we learn behavior change, we address the root of our physical health and stop addressing the symptoms. Analysis like this propels us to analyze this sin in our lives. All sin has a root cause. When we can address those roots instead of just chopping down the branches, we can see more growth and progress than we ever would otherwise. To fight the enemy in the realm of physical health, I en- courage you to release and pray against defeat, inability, shame, and guilt. Pray for discipline, diligence, accountability, and the humility to see your weaknesses.

Abundant Life

Jesus brings us abundant life. One step towards abundant life is taking care of our physical bodies. Below are some recommendations on how to get started.

Goals:

• 10 or more cups of water per day

• 9 hours of quality relationship time per week

• 8 hours of sleep per night

• 7 breakfasts per week

• 6 home-cooked meals per week

• 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day

• 4 recognitions per day that God is using your physical body for his glory

• 3 servings of calcium per day

• 2 hours of screen time maximum, <1 hour recommended

• 1 to 1.5 hours of exercise per day for weight loss; 150 minutes per week for weight maintenance

• 0 sweetened drinks

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