Spiritual Fitness

 

 

When Dallas Cowboys’ coach, Tom Landry, was asked how to build a winning team he said:

“My job is to get men to do what they don’t want to do, in order to achieve what they’ve always wanted to achieve.”

 What did those football players want to achieve? Victory at the Super Bowl. What did they not want to do? The hard work necessary to get there!

Achieving greatness requires discipline – determined, deliberate, daily, definable actions with a clear goal in mind.

Paul coached Timothy, saying: “Spend your time and energy in training yourself for spiritual fitness.”

Timothy was the Pastor of the Church in Ephesus, a Las Vegas sort of city. It was a busy, rich, sensual place to be a Christian. Paul knew that succeeding there wouldn’t be easy, so he used the Greek term from which we get our word gymnasium.

In other words, becoming Christ-like requires a daily workout. So Paul writes, “Training yourself for spiritual fitness.”

Notice two words:

(1) Training – which calls for repetitive exercises so that your mind and appropriate muscle groups work together reflexively and automatically. It combines endurance and skill. It’s what turns game-winning abilities into habits.

(2) Yourself – Nobody else can do it for you. Look through the telephone directory; you don’t find “Lease-a-Dieter,” or “Rent-a-Runner.” No, it’s up to you!

So, why train yourself? To become like Christ! By living life as He lived it, allowing the Holy Spirit to shape you by His disciplines from the inside out, you’ll become more like Him. In other words, spend time each day in the gymnasium of the soul. (By Rick Godwin)

 

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