1 Timothy 4:7-8 “…7 But reject irreverent, silly myths. Instead, train yourself for godliness. 8 For physical exercise is of limited value, but godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for the present life and for the one to come. 9 This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance."
So many people who love to boast about exercising use this verse in first Timothy to say the opposite of what God said here. God said exercise is of “little value”, but those caught up in the fad of exercise are saying it is very important. This is common in our Christian culture, taking two words out of context to make it say what they wish to believe, making their view opposite of what God actually said.
We see no examples in the Bible of men of God exercising on a regular basis. We see soldiers who are working to be strong to be able to fight wars but the men of God who brought the gospel walked everywhere. Walking to get somewhere is far different from stressing muscles in all parts of the body to make them stronger.
I once heard it said that in order to build muscles one has to make small injuries in the muscle so that when it heals it is stronger. In other words building muscles is building scars.
One of the clues that the whole exercise craze is not of God is how important the seculars make it. They are stressing their bodies every day by running miles or using weights, in their mind making themselves live longer.
God says; “Deuteronomy 5:33 “You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.”
Proverbs 16:31 “Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.”
Our culture teaches people to exercise, die their white hair and figure out ways to become wealthy with big titles and revered by men. This is the opposite of what God teaches in His Word.
Proverbs 10:27 “The fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be short.”
Who are we trusting when we place our trust for health in exercise….the answer is clear, we are trusting in our own ability to do physical things rather than developing the spiritual inner man, which is far more valuable than the physical body.
Exodus 20:12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”
No where in the scriptures does God say to exercise every day to live a longer life. I am convinced that when the entire godless culture is obsessed with something it is likely the opposite of what God deems important.
1 Kings 3:14 “And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”
Those who think they will lengthen their days by exercising will discover eventually that it did nothing to lengthen their lives. They have a certain number of days given by God and they cannot lengthen their days by their own efforts.
Job 14:5 A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.
Perhaps that video of a Chinese doctor talking about exercise that is not only not necessary but suggests that one will live longer by eliminating unnecessary stress from their bodies and taking more naps carries more weight than the modern obsession with exercise.
It is my humble opinion that exercise on a regular basis, the stressing of muscles and the extreme pumping of the heart is actually shorting lives rather than extending them. Perhaps this exercise mentality is causing more harm than good. It would be shortening lives not because we can change our number of days but because when we don't trust Christ He sees this and knows our trust in our own efforts. He has already decided how many days we get and what illnesses we will have.
The people I have known who lived long lives did not exercise, they went about their normal daily tasks and this was enough to make them healthy. It was their attitude lacking stress emotionally that seemed to carry more weight than any form of exercise.
If the culture is obsessing over anything, exercise, holidays, wealth or anything else we can be sure God has an opposite instruction concerning these things.
In Greek, the meaning “exercise” has more to do with mental training. In order to exercise for competition, one must mentally train, they must be diligent and focused, it isn’t about the exercise itself as much as about the mental training involved in doing a difficult thing.
Determination, abstinence from certain foods and absence of marital intimacy are mental disciplines in order to be able to train the body to do certain things. This takes a lot of work, even though it is of little value, says God. It isn’t the exercise itself that is spoken of here, it is the mental gymnastics of denying the body things to carry out the discipline of exercise for competition. God says this is of little value compared to the spiritual and emotional gymnastics that must occur for a man or woman to become godly. We must train ourselves in the Word of God to be Spiritually strong as we know God’s Word and obey it, this brings Spiritual and emotional strength no matter what is happening to the body. We can be Spiritually strong while living in a wheelchair. We can be Spiritually strong no matter the condition of our bodies.
Sadly, those who are focused on physical health and virility are often if not always Spiritually dead. Their focus is so much on their bodies they don’t have time to develop good character. While some would say I know of a man who has physical prowess as well as godliness, I suggest that these situations are rare because the more we focus on Christ and His wisdom the less we will be thinking about the physical body.
1 Timothy 4:6-10 “6 In pointing out these things to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the good doctrine which you have been following. 7 But stay away from worthless stories that are typical of old women. Rather, [c]discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; 8 for bodily training is just slightly beneficial, but godliness is beneficial for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 9 It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. 10 For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all mankind, especially of believers.”
We can see how worldly-minded Christians have changed God’s Word to fit their mindset in following the false instructions of the world.
Those who love the things of the world, their pride and their boasting about their bodies and its activities will not be able to wrap their mind around the way God thinks, they will argue to defend their desired belief, they have been “brain-washed” or “indoctrinated” to believe things that are not true and in the process are doing more damage to their bodies. They will not add one day to the days God has given them and they may even be making themselves less healthy.
Satan is very clever to convince those he wishes to destroy to live exactly the opposite of what God teaches. He also knows that those who are convinced of these worldly belief systems will boast about themselves as well as pressure others to do what they do.
We are living in a narcissistic world, narcissists are not happy doing what they want, they must have followers. The world is full of narcissism as a cultural bent, they must demean those who do not do as they do.
I cannot tell you the number of times worldly Christians attempted to convince me I needed to exercise. Those who did so have had heart attacks, I have not yet had one. They have told me I must believe in “self-esteem” while they walk in arrogance. They don’t have the ability to think for themselves or self-reflect or they would see that their desire for self-esteem has caused pride in themselves. And, possibly their extreme focus on exercise has caused physical problems.
So very many things Christians have adopted as important are not at all and even detrimental to the Christian walk. The less we are like the world, the more we trust in Christ and desire His wisdom the more we will be out of sync with the rest of the culture, even Christians.
The world hates someone who will not agree with them. The world hates anyone who does not say what they say, and do what they do. Even if we never say anything about our beliefs they will pressure us, we will say “no thank you”, which is enough to make us their enemy.
John 15:18-25
Disciples’ Relation to the World
18 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.
19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.
20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you as well; if they followed My word, they will follow yours also.
21 But all these things they will do to you on account of My name, because they do not know the One who sent Me.
22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have [b]sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.
23 The one who hates Me hates My Father also.
24 If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have [c]sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.
25 But this has happened so that the word that is written in their Law will be fulfilled: ‘They hated Me for no reason.’”
When we are completely focused on gaining wisdom from the Holy Spirit we will be “radical outsiders” to just about everyone, we can count this joy that we do not have to fall in line with the world, we are content to walk humbly with our God.
