You will feel better physically, mentally, and even spiritually when you’re living an active lifestyle. Your physical well-being will affect just about every facet of your life.

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. – 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

What does it mean that your body does not belong to you?

Our bodies are given to us for a reason. We’re placed here so that we can live out a purpose that’s bigger than ourselves. In order to do that, we need to take good care of our physical body so that we can do the work that we’ve been called to do.

If our bodies are not in shape, our minds will be affected as well, and we won’t be able to carry out our mission here on earth.

Although many of us have tried to have an active lifestyle, this is an area that we all need help with, especially if we’re busy with work and family. It’s easy to run around all day and end the day exhausted with no energy left to exercise.

Yet, here’s the paradox – if we want more energy, we have to exercise, diet, and take good care of ourselves. So, what we need is a shift in mindset. The more we exercise, the more energy we will have to do the things that we need to do.

Exercising is big business these days and there’s so much out there that promotes working out just to look good.  Nothing wrong in itself but we have to keep our focus on the main reason we exercise and not be distracted by all the noises out there that will take us away from our true mission.  

Workout with a group or with someone

Some of us are more motivated to exercise in a group, while others prefer to do it independently.

Do what works best for you and what you enjoy doing. You won’t see many results if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing. But if you enjoy something as simple as walking or gardening, you’ll find time to do it more often.

Time won’t be much of an issue when you enjoy doing something you love.

Recently I took up boxing at a gym out of curiosity. I didn’t realize that punching a bag could be so much fun until I got started.

These workouts at the gym actually got me fired up about taking care of my physical health after a long layoff from the pandemic.

It also started my spiritual journey to honor God by caring for my physical and mental health so that I can serve Him.

Watching what we eat

What we eat is just as important if not more important than exercising.  The food we consume will affect both our physical and mental health.

The key here is to have realistic and attainable goals. That means aiming for 80% success in our plans instead of 100% success all the time. Go for smaller changes, such as eating 10% less or focusing on giving up one item first.

Once you have these small successes and you can do them consistently over a long period of time, you can keep adding to them. But if you try to accomplish too much in the beginning, you’ll fail easily and will feel like giving up.

These small changes done consistently over a long period will make the most difference.

When our physical health fails, so will our minds and spirit. I know that when I feed my body with mostly junk food, I end up living negatively – affecting my relationships, work, and even the way I view the world.

 “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and the future.” – 1 Timothy 4:8

Taking care of our physical self does not mean we have to do what many others are chasing after – competing and comparing ourselves with others, trying to look good externally while neglecting our inner life.

It’s not about looking better, thinner or trying to match up with someone else. It’s about taking care of ourselves so that we can live out our purpose instead of ending each day on the couch and wasting the hours away on social media.

This process itself is spiritual when our main goal is to take care of what God has given us and use it to serve Him.  I’ve used my gym times to pray and even worship whenever I’m doing it for His glory.  It’s easy to get distracted by others which is why I’ve also set up a home gym just to stay focused.

Prayer –

‘Help me to take care for my body and mind so that I can live out the purpose You have for me. Teach me to focus on You when I’m working out so that I will not be distracted by my own voice and the voices of the world.’

We can ask ourselves these questions whenever we’re unsure if what we do is of God or ourselves.

Is this motivated by love? Am I doing this out of love for God and for people? Or am I being selfish? Am I doing this merely to earn people’s approval or is it to go after God’s purpose?

Will it honor God? Is it honoring God to take care of my physical self? Yes, if that’s the motivation.

Like any pursuit in life, we can also start out on the right path and then easily lose sight of the main reason we’re doing it. It’s a constant battle to focus on the why.

So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. – 1 Corinthians 10:31

When I’m out there running or lifting weights, something has to motivate me to keep doing it.  I used to pump myself up with music.

Lately, I’ve focused more on the spiritual – on God’s purpose and calling for my life.

I’d think about the mission that He wants me to carry out or a verse that I read recently and how to live that out as I’m working out.

We don’t have to always depend on loud music to motivate us. We can design our exercise around what matters most to us and let that be our motivation.

We can take good care of our bodies and still do it for a purpose that’s bigger than ourselves – for the One who created us and placed us here.