EXERCISE AS A STEWARD

For bodily training is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 1 Timothy 4:8 

God has given you and I a body as a gift. It has a purpose and a calling from God. God says in Romans 12:1 that we must present our bodies as a living sacrifice. In that passage the word body is a reference to our entire being, our physical body and our spirit/soul. We are to present our entire being to the Lord, out of gratitude and wonder at the incredible gift of salvation He has provided for us. How do we do that?

Paul instructs Titus, “Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work” (Titus 3:1). While every good deed begins in the heart, those deeds are usually carried out in the body. Thus, to the very best of our ability, God wants us to use our physical bodies to serve Him and others. But in order to do that, we must do what we can to make sure our physical body is in shape; able to physically serve God and others. It is at that point that we understand why bodily training is of some profit. We must exercise for the purpose of making sure our body is able to do all that God calls us to do. Everyone is at a different physical level/ability; but God calls each of us to steward well the body God has given to us. As we are faithful stewards, we will be truly loving God with our entire being, and our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31).

Joshua Steiner