Maintaining our Spiritual Health

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Maintaining Our Spiritual Health

1 Timothy 4:6-10

“For bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and for the life to come.”

                  The global fitness industry continues to grow at an incredible rate.  It is estimated that in  2022, the fitness industry generated a market value of 104 billion dollars and that by 2030, it is projected to grow to $202 billion.  In the United States, the fitness industry has a value of 40 billion dollars in 2023.  The millennials are specifically known as the “wellness generation” as they place health as one of their top priorities. Indeed, there is value in taking care of our physical health and well-being.  Paul himself affirms the value of physical discipline when he states that bodily discipline has some profit.  

                  However, Paul challenges us to move beyond our physical health and examine our spiritual health.  We spend hours each week physically exercising to maintain our physical well-being, but how much do we spend caring for our spiritual well-being?   Paul reminds us to examine our spiritual fitness.  This confronts us with a question.  We exercise for muscular and cardiovascular fitness to maintain physical health, but how do we keep our spiritual fitness?  As Paul writes to his young protégé, he reminds him to maintain his spiritual health by developing several spiritual fitness habits.  

                  First, just as physical fitness begins by maintaining proper nourishment, so our spiritual health requires a healthy diet of spiritual nourishment.  This comes through the steady diet of the Scriptures and the affirmation of sound doctrine we find in the Bible.  The importance of spiritual food is emphasized throughout the Bible.  In Matthew 4:4, Christ states, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”  Just as the body requires physical food, the soul needs spiritual food to maintain its health.  This begins with a steady diet of Scriptures.  When we are not eating rightly physically, we suffer from anemia and malnutrition.  A healthy diet requires daily food.  The same is true spiritually.  To maintain our spiritual health, we also need to be in the Bible daily. In Deuteronomy 17:18-20 the king is instructed to read from the law daily to keep him adequately oriented in life.  We are commanded in Psalms 1 and Psalm 119 to consistently meditate upon the scriptures.  God commended Job for his spiritual health, and in Job 23:12, we see the priority Job placed upon the scriptures when he affirms, “I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.”  

                  Second, to maintain our spiritual health, we live according to Scripture.  It is not enough to know the Bible; we need to disciple ourselves to live in obedience to the Bible so that our relationship with Christ determines our values, desires, and priorities.  Just as physical exercise requires discipline, so spiritual health involves discipline.  It requires the determination and commitment to live out our faith in the daily events of life. Paul reminds us to “discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness” (vs. 7).  We are to strive daily to live according to the teachings of the Bible.

                  Last, just as we set goals for our physical fitness, we are to set our spiritual goals for our spiritual fitness.  The goal that we are to set is “to fix our hope on the living God” (vs. 10).  We are to make it our goal to live like Jesus and manifest the character of Christ in our lives so that our hope is grounded in the person and work of God.  Our lives become governed by God and His agenda for us.  Just as we must assess and improve our physical well-being periodically, evaluating our spiritual well-being is vital.  Are we given the same attention to our soul as our physical fitness?  The latter has temporary value, but the former has eternal value (vs. 8).  How is your spiritual fitness today?  Are you giving the same attention to your spiritual health as your physical health?

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