1 Timothy 4:7-8 (NLT)
7 Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales. Instead, spend your time and energy in training yourself for spiritual fitness.
8 Physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is much more important, for it promises a reward in both this life and the next.
Notice the phrases, “spiritual fitness” (in verse 7) and “spiritual exercise” (in verse 8). The contrast here is between the physical and the spiritual, with exercise as the example. Physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise promises a reward in both this life and the next. Question: What does spiritual fitness look like?
Most people, when they think of godliness, immediately think of outward acts, such as reading the Bible, praying, fasting, going to church, tithing, serving in ministry, etc. For the most part, these are all outward acts that take place in the physical realm. There’s nothing wrong with doing any of these things, but when we refer to spiritual fitness, we are talking about more of an internal attitude instead of just outward actions. Many times outward actions are reduced to simply obeying a prescribed set of rules, rituals and regulations in order to be in the good graces of God. Spiritual fitness is more of an internal attitude than just obeying a prescribed set of rules, rituals and regulations.
Focusing on internal attitudes instead of outward actions equates to living from an inside-out perspective. The motivation to read the Bible, pray, fast, go to church, tithe, give, serve, etc. should be to live from the inside-out. Here are 3 ways you can embrace spiritual fitness by living from an inside-out perspective:
- Respond instead of always reacting
Most people are only aware of the physical realm. This is true because most people are just reacting to the sense realm in the form of their circumstances. However, every true believer should be responding to life with the Word of God. There’s nothing wrong with dealing with the sense realm by taking responsibility for your circumstances, but when the truth of God’s Word is different than the sense realm facts, the opportunity to respond instead of react presents itself.
For example, the facts may say, “I’m sick.” But the truth says, “By the stripes of Jesus I was healed.” (See 1 Peter 2:24.) We’re not denying the facts. We’re not going around saying, “I’m not sick.” But instead of reacting solely to the facts, we can respond to the facts with the truth of God’s Word. As Romans 4:17 states, we can call those things that are not as though they were. Respond by saying this, “I’m healed, I’m whole, I’m free because of what Jesus did for me.” Respond by saying this, “My body functions in the perfection that God created it to function in.”
- Live out of your re-created spirit
When you were born again, the spiritual part of you changed. Your once spiritually dead human spirit was re-created and you became a new creation person – the spiritual part of you received a new righteous nature of eternal life. Living out of your re-created spirit includes living like the righteous new creation person you really are.
For example, when sin presents itself, my attitude should be this: I’m a righteous new creation person and it’s beneath me to practice such demeaning behavior. If I do miss it and sin, I still confess that I’m the righteousness of God in Christ because only when I believe in my heart that I’m right with God will my behavior change. Any Christian who isn’t living a godly life simply doesn’t believe in their heart that they’re the righteousness of God in Christ.
- Express the Divine Nature
When you received eternal life, you became a partaker of the divine nature. The hallmark characteristic of the divine nature is agape love. Now, you can rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to walk in love proactively and unconditionally. You can rely on the help of the Holy Spirit to express the divine nature.
For example, the divine nature includes the fruit of the spirit. The Holy Spirit will manifest the fruit of the spirit in my life when I make the decision to put it into practice. This is important because expressing the divine nature is not only the secret to abundant living, but it’s also the solution to the world’s problems.
The challenge of every believer is spiritual warfare, but it’s not against the devil. We resist the devil, but we don’t fight with him because he’s already been defeated by Jesus. Spiritual warfare includes the battle between the physical realm (what the five senses are telling you) and the spiritual realm (what God’s Word is telling you). Any other battle is misdirected effort.