It is Profitable

Many of us have gone through the struggle of needing to lose weight. What makes us desire to be thinner than we are? When we were young perhaps it was to be attractive for the boy we liked. Then we got married to that boy, and we have him, it gets a little harder to have incentive once you are committed to each other. Your husband certainly wouldn't mind your losing weight if you need it, but for us itjust seems a little harder. There is still the desire to look nice for ourselves, but more than looking nice for your husband or yourself, is that your body is fit for God. This is not vanity.

Many have claimed the verse in I Timothy 4:8 as an excuse not to exercise. It says in the KJV, "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." This verse made me wonder, so I looked up the Greek on blueletterbible.org. When I looked up the word "little" in the verse I had a suprise. The word little there in the Greek actually is transliterated pros. It is a strengthened for of the word that means before. The word here actually means "to the advantage of", "at, near, by", "to, towards, with, with regard to". So what does this really mean? It doesn't mean that exercise is not profitable. The ESV, which is a very literal translation of the Greek says this, "for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come." It has a entirely different meaning. Basically we could say that bodily exercise is advantageous, but of course godliness is even more important. God was not saying that we should not exercise by having this verse in the Bible. That is not the context of the passage. Godliness is the context of the passage.

So now our excuse is gone that exercise is not biblical. We know it is because I Corinthians 6:19 says, "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" It is our duty to care for our body, so that we can live and serve the Lord. Exercise is not vanity. Exercise can lead us to be more like Christ.

I really struggle with wanting to exercise. I want to be fit, but I like to sit. When I do exercise, though, I never regret it. I almost always feel better after doing so. So what can be my incentive to exercise? Exercise because you want to please your husband and yourself, but most of all because your body is God's dwellingplace. We are His vessel. What is our present condition keeping us from doing for him?

For me lately, though I do not enjoy it all that much, exercise has not been my issue most of the time. Eating is always an issue for me. In a past blog I talked about my possible "eating disorder." It wasn't anorexia and it wasn't necessarily bulemia. It was a food addiction, but it was really sin. I had to eat when I wanted to eat, and I ate in fairly large portions. Right now that is no longer my struggle. Right now, my failure is in snacking. I love to bake goodies in the fall. There's no harm there as long as you don't plan on eating it all. I tend to just over due it on the sweets. Yes, you could call it a sweet tooth, but really, it's a lack of discipline on my part. It's really the one reason I haven't reached my weight/size goal. Some scoff when I say I'm trying to trim down because I don't really look overweight. We all know our bodies though, and I know that I'm a little overweight. Meeting my goal though should not be my only reason for eating right. Once again it goes back to pleasing God with the way we take care of ourselves. Changing eating habits can be a difficult thing to overcome. I think sometimes we think too hard about it. Instead, we should just "stop it!" as Bob Newhart so aptly said in one of his episodes. It sounds silly and simple, but it really is biblical. The Bible tells us to "stop it" all the time, but we like to complicate it and make it into a huge ordeal. All it really takes is setting your mind to stopping a certain habit and committing that habit to Him. I know sometimes when things are chemically influenced such as smoking and drinking it would be more difficult. Sugar is a very addictive food, and could almost be put in that chemical category. It may be a little harder to cut back, but it is possible. When it comes to eating right, it takes stopping the way you're eating, and turning in a new direction. It is hard. It takes tons of self-control, but with God's help, you can do it. I have gone through times where I confessed my eating sugar as sin because I saw what it did to me. I know a girl who confessed her weight as sin, and proceeded to lose eighty pounds in a few months. That may sound drastic, but I believe God helped her accomplish that goal. That girl has been an example and has often put me to shame with her dedication in this area.

I started by talking about weight, but if we really think about this, weight is not even the issue. You could be skinny as a rail and be very unhealthy because you pig out on fries and burgers every week, but you have a high metabolism. This is still wrong. This issue is that we all need to be keeping the temple of the Holy Ghost healthy for Him.

I hope this has been a helpful blog post. I hope it will help me to endeavor to eat more healthy foods when I eat. Please feel free to comment with your own thoughts on this matter.