Jade Gold
I Corinthians 10:31 says, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” What we eat is a means of worship to God and I hope this helps you make connection to a pure and transparent journey.
There are many who would argue that much like “Church vs. State” should be left off the table, so should “Faith n Fitness”.Personally, I find a very synergistic value in marrying the two concepts together.
While this article is meant to give you a healthy perspective on how to use your faith to empower and strengthen your fitness regime, getting to know who GOD is would take a much longer article. So let’s stay focused together on developing just the two concepts and how to use them.
Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. This is directly from 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (New Living Translation). Without getting into religious translations, this is basically saying that we honor our God by respecting our bodies & taking care of them. Our body is the only one that we will ever have! We take care of our bodies physically through eating healthy, staying active, and by maintaining great physical health.
Prayer during Workouts
If you workout by yourself (like me), make your workout your own time to talk to your God. This will help you focus on something other than your workout, and your routine will go by a lot faster! Before a heavy set, feel free to ask God to help you. Then when you get the weight up or get through your set successfully, make sure you thank Him! A lot of prayer can be done during a 45-minute cardio workout. Plus, in addition to a good workout, you will feel better mentally after your long talk with God. You are relieving stress mentally & physically! Your faith will grow stronger just like your body.
Accountability with God
We often think of accountability partners as someone we physically workout with; a friend, trainers or a spouse who also provides an excellent source of accountability in the realm of fitness. Romans 14:12 – so then each of us will give an account of himself to God. If we saw our relationship with God as more of a physical relationship, one very present in our lives, it wouldn’t seem as odd to give account in this way. While having a trainer watch over, God sees everything. Stretching your faith to include a daily accountability to God, is one of the highest forms of commitment you can make or break.
Break Every Chain
There is no more powerful transformation one can make than to ride the journey of self-discovery. In order to transform your mindset, your ability to stay committed to the process or being accountable, you must first break every chain that holds you, your body, and mind and spirit hostage. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Everything you try, every workout you attempt, every meal plan you try to implement will all fail until your have cleared out all the things and mindsets that hold your ability to physically transform captive. Use whatever time you need to speak with God and ask His guidance to see yourself as He sees you; to realize the precious temple He has given you does have an expiration date; to understand that just because illness has not set in, our days have all been accounted for. Allow your faith to be the pathway of daily communication with God for a deeper perspective on how to let go of some of the “Life Weights.”
There is a direct relationship or link between spirituality, or faith and health. God made us with a spirit, soul and body and they work together in a marvelous way.
Better understand how your faith and the body work together and learn how to integrate these areas and your spirituality into your day-to-day life so you can enjoy better health.
As you learn more about this connection between spirituality, faith and health, you’ll be able to live a life that better integrates these components. With the improved level of fitness, health and wholeness, you’ll be able to live a more full life and have improved overall function to live out the purpose God has for you.