Fit or Flabby
January 29, 2007
Bible Reading: “I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should” ~ 1 Corinthians 9:27
Bonus Reading: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
When I graduated from high school at 17 years old, my athletic career had primarily been as a long distance runner and motocross rider. With my 38 jacket, standing 6′2″ tall, I was the proverbial “bean pole” - not a lot of meat on my bones. Soon after taking up residence in a Marine Corps company in the Corps of Cadets barracks at Texas A&M, I discovered I needed more muscle, so, I began weight training and within a couple years had built a substantially larger frame.
I learned that, if growth was take place, it was essential to really push my muscles past what was comfortable in order to build them and get stronger. Consistency was also a big-time key, as I had to lift weights three to four times a week. Without consistency I would lose the fruit of my previous efforts. In short, I would get sore, but not get stronger, faster, or bigger. What a life lesson!
Building faith in our Lord is remarkably like weight lifting. If we only opened our Bibles on Sunday, we would remain perpetual 98-pound spiritual weaklings. However, if we read and meditate over God’s Word every day, invoking the Presence and help of the Holy Spirit, asking Him to speak to us through the Scripture, we build a muscular, hard, healthy spiritual person. Otherwise, we remain soft and vulnerable - much as I discovered I was in the Marine barracks. We are at the mercy of our circumstances without recourse - and it’s no one’s fault but our own.
Becoming a “Mr. Universe” in the spiritual realm requires daily training to build up the faith muscles. Do we give God the time He needs to make us grow?
This is the time of year many of us think about getting in shape. Perhaps we should consider exactly what kind of shape our spiritual person is in and why. Are we spiritually fit - or flabby?
Our Response: How healthy is our workout regimen of Scripture reading and prayer? Do we study alone and in the company of God’s people?
Think about it: Care for your body as though you were going to live forever. Care for your soul as if you were going to die tomorrow. ~St. Augustine of Hippo
Grace and peace,
Chip+
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[...] Father Chip Harper, All Saints’ rector, talks about the need for Bible study in his devotionals blog. He compares spiritual fitness to physical fitness and reminds us that just as we must exercise our bodies to become physically fit, we must read and study the Word to become spiritually fit. [...]
Hi, Father,
just now I bumped into your blog. I read this piece of message from you that we need to develop the spiritual muscles. And the quote of St. Augustine of Hippo - care for your souls as if you’re going to die tomorrow is thought provoking.
father, This morning I heard that my best friend who was my classmate is HIV positive and is going to live for few more days. I’m deeply sorry adn heartbroken.
I hear and read to many incidents like this and it never moved me. but this one is so painful. As I write this piece I look at the trauma and agony his wife and children undergo in a conservative society like Andhra Pradesh in India.
As he is a below middle class person, hailing from a small village; me too.
Father, would you please tell me what is the way? How can we mitigate his and his children’s ( two) and wife’s agony?
I thank you for your message to care for our souls. we catholics never study Bible.
I thank the Lord for your ministry.
Please pray for him and his family.
Solomon ( Writer, Social Activist)