Thoughts from the Gym

     For about four days now, I've been thinking about this post.  It's been a while you know  ... and I feel bad about that.  It isn't that I haven't had anything to write about.  Odd little things come to my mind quite often and I think, "Oh, this would make a neat post."  I even wrote some of them down so I wouldn't forget.  
     So I was mulling everything over Wednesday afternoon while I was exercising ... and it seemed like a thousand thoughts were racing through my mind at one time.  Would it be something about the Christmas napkins we used on Easter weekend, or the loyalty of family pets, or that certain scripture I read the other day, or ....
      It was my first day back to the gym after nearly a week away from my daily exercise routine.  I kept eyeing the clock, waiting for my time to be up.  See, I'd been sick with a stomach virus the week before and felt pretty week for several days.  
     I was about to fall out of the habit.  I should have started back the day before, but I excused myself one more time.  Today was different.  I knew if I didn't make myself come to the gym today, I might never go back .... and I had way too much time invested in this to stop now.  So today I pushed myself to go ... "That's it!" I thought.  
     That's what I would post about.  No, not exercise.... well yes, maybe in a way  .... I'm talking about self-discipline .. a.k.a self-control.  Although we don't talk about it very often, this trait is mentioned several times in  the scriptures and involves almost every part of our spiritual lives.   
     Self-control is a vital trait for a Christian to develop; and I need a lot of work in this area.  It's the last characteristic mentioned in the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).  If  God's Spirit lives within us we will show this in our lives. 
     Think about this favorite fruit of God's ... this fruit is manifested through "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness", AND"self-control."  It is easy to love the lovable, but it takes self-control to love our enemies as Christ commands.  It is easy to be 'happy' when things are going our way, yet it takes self-control to dig in deep and find joy when we're suddenly unemployed, going through a serious illness, or have lost a loved one.
      Does it take self-control to find peace when life's storms are raging all around you or to be patient when a child is rebelling?  I could go through the whole list; but we get the idea.  We need self-control to live as Christ would have us to live... to be who He wants us to be.   
     Proverbs 25: 27-28 says "It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glorious to seek one's own glory.  A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls."  Ponder that for a moment ... over-indulgence (eating too much honey) is not good for us in any way whatsoever.  Being prideful and seeking glory for our deeds actually distracts from whatever good we've tried to do.  God should always get the glory!!
     How apt is the description of the man without self control?  I love the picture this illustration puts into my mind.  He has been broken into and is now open to all kinds of temptation.  There are no walls to protect him from being led away into darkness.    
      It took a good dose of self-control to get me back into that gym the other day.  About a year ago when I first started working out, I was told I would reach the point where I would want to go work-out.  My son said I would eventually look forward to it ... crave it, even.  
      That has not been the case for me.  I do not long for exercise time.  I have never once craved it.  :)  I pretty much have to push myself to go in that gym every time I go and some days it is much more difficult than others.  What I do long for is the end result.  I want to be more physically fit.  I like the idea of having more strength and stamina to do the things I want to do.  (And losing some of this weight won't hurt either).
     Some spiritual "exercises" are much less difficult than physical exercises are.  We might find it easy not to steal or make fun of someone.  Praying and attending worship on Sunday morning may come naturally for some.  A strong faith in God's care may be part of who we are.  Yet we may still have trouble refraining from gossip, or controlling our temper, or even remembering to study God's word on a regular basis.  It takes diligence and self-control to run the Christian race.       
     Paul sometimes compared the physical to the spiritual and with the Spirit's help - he says it much better than I do.  
In I Corinthians 9:24-26 he says,  "Do you not know, that in a race all the runner's run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.  Every athlete exercises self-control in all things.  They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.  So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air." 
     Physical exercise does have its benefits... benefits worth attaining.  The healthier we are, the more able we are to do God's work.  But we will not always have this body.  It is perishable.  Yet, the prize we will receive for our spiritual exercise is eternal.  It is imperishable.  If we run our race well, we will obtain it.  
     Go back and read those verses from I Corinthians again.  Paul says all athletes exercise self-control and all the runners run the race, but only one of them wins the prize.  I'm sure you caught that.  The good news for us is that everyone who chooses to run the Christian race will win the prize... not just one of us ... not just a few of us ... all of us who run a faithful Christian race will win the prize of eternal life.  My friends, that is a race worth running!
      
     So run that you may obtain the prize.... 

"for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control."  (2 Timothy 1:7)

Christ above all things, 
Robin Whitley