Godly exercise

Exercise yourself toward godliness. – 1 Timothy 4:7

Fitness advocate Jhannie Tolbert says you don’t need a treadmill or specialized equipment to get a great physical workout at home. Tolbert uses a toolbox for stepping exercises, lifts soup cans to work his shoulder muscles, and employs other common household items in his daily training. He says you can stay fit at home using a low-tech approach. Other trainers agree and encourage people to use jump ropes, chairs, brooms, and even bags of groceries in conditioning routines. They see exercise as a matter of will, not wealth.

The same principle holds true with spiritual fitness. While Bible dictionaries, commentaries, and other books are helpful, we can begin spiritual training with nothing more than the Bible and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Paul urged his protege Timothy: "Exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of what which is to come" (1 Timothy 4:7-8).

It requires no money to take the spiritual truths that we know and put them into practice. We don’t need special equipment or materials to pray for a friend, give thanks to God, or sing His praise. We just need to begin where we are, with what we have, right now. – David McCasland

Just as the body will grow strong

With exercise each day,

So too, we grow more like our Lord

By living life His way. – D. De Haan

READ: 1 Timothy 4:6-16

Godly exercise is the key to godly character.

The Bible in one year:

• 1 Kings 16-18

• Luke 2:47-71