A Workout in Godliness
“But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.” I Timothy 4:7-8
We have just come away from celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ for another Easter. We sang, praised God, thanked Him for His love and mercy in sending His Son to die on the cross and then rise again to provide forgiveness and eternal life for all who will repent of sin and place faith in Jesus. Of course, that is not the end of the story. Yes, our sin debt has been paid, but we do have a duty to develop and continue to develop a spiritual relationship with the Lord which is of the utmost importance in the life of a believer.
One who is a new believer in Christ, and hopefully many have recently made that decision to follow Him, have much to learn. When I was expecting my first child, I had a lot of apprehensions about taking care of a baby, because I had no younger brothers or sisters and was not around babies very much as I grew up. I just didn’t know very much about them. A lady that I worked with at the time told me not to worry, that motherhood was an instinct and that it would all come to me. She had four children; thus, she was an old hand at child rearing. However, I found out that whatever instincts that I had was not enough. I had to learn about taking care of a baby through trial and error, you know, that old “experience is the best teacher” stuff. By the time my second child came along, I wasn’t an “old pro”, but I did know quite a bit more about babies. Even so, a mother and a father never stop learning about children. No one ever starts out knowing everything there is to know about any subject. And so it is with Christians.
Living godly lives requires training. A person who comes to receive Christ as Lord and Savior who did not grow up in a Christian home usually knows very little about God’s word. Even those who have grown up in the home of Christian parents and attended church regularly may not have an in depth understanding of scripture. God’s word doesn’t have the same impact on folks until after they are saved. There’s a lot more to being a child of God than just being able to go to heaven. Our earthly goal is to become more Christlike, but we don’t have to attempt that goal by ourselves because we have the best teacher–the Holy Spirit.
Paul wrote this epistle to Timothy, who was a young pastor, in order to give him some instructions on how to teach his congregation how to live holy lives. Paul warned Timothy about teaching that is not Biblical. Paul referred to these false teachings as profane, that is, treating sacred things without reverence, and old wives’ fables. We’ve all heard various “old wives’ tales”, many of which sound preposterous, but are still believed by some to be the absolute truth. My rule-of-thumb and that of most believers is that if something can’t be supported by scripture, then leave it alone. It is useless, and it can be hurtful. It is really easy to get side-tracked and “out into the weeds” on some issues that have no profit. Paul urges believers to exercise unto godliness which means to keep spiritually fit, and we do that by “working out” in the truth of God’s word and shunning false teaching.
Paul stated that bodily exercise doesn’t profit very much. We know that exercise is good and has its benefits. We need it for our health and well-being, not only physically but mentally as well. If you read up on ways to be healthier, regular exercise is always one of the factors along with a good diet, sleep, and less stress. However, when we workout, it helps us today, but it is something that doesn’t last. Working out once a week is helpful, but not all that much. If exercise is not done regularly, it only takes a couple of days to lose the benefits that we received. Also, bodily exercise doesn’t benefit us spiritually. All the working out in the world won’t do us a bit of good in eternity. In Paul’s day, particularly in ancient Greece, sporting events were a big deal, just like they are today. Gymnasiums were filled with young men trying to build muscles and strengthen their bodies for the games, however, these gyms were also meeting places for those involved in ungodly sexual perversions. That was one of the reasons for Paul to bring up the subject of physical exercise in cautioning against putting too much emphasis on it instead of on building a relationship with the Lord. Some folks can make bodybuilding a god.
Spiritual fitness is much more important and beneficial to us, not only in this life, but for all eternity, and our godly behavior also is beneficial to those around us because of our heavenly influence upon them. Be sure to workout physcially for your health, but make spiritual fitness a greater goal. The benefits of a spiritual workout are out of this world!