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7Don't have anything to do with worthless, senseless stories. Work hard to be truly religious. 8 -9As the saying goes,
"Exercise is good
for your body,
but religion helps you
in every way.
It promises life
now and forever."
These words are worthwhile and should not be forgotten. (I Timothy 4, CEV)
The words “work hard to be truly religious” are rendered in the ESV “train yourself in godliness.” The AV reads “exercise thyself … unto godliness.” “Exercise” is the Greek gumnazo, “to exercise nude,” from gumnos, “naked” (Strong's Concordance). The second word for “exercise,” in verse 8, is gumnasia, “training,” deriving from gumnazo. Compare the English “gymnasium.”
The Message renders the above verses: 7Stay clear of silly stories that get dressed up as religion. Exercise daily in God—no spiritual flabbiness, please! 8Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever.
We aptly call “works of piety,” following John Wesley, as “spiritual disciplines.” The word “disciplines” implies the effort entailed in such exercise. Likewise, we speak of spiritual exercises. For the Christ Path is not simply a sign on the dotted line affair. Rather, the Christ Path is a commitment to a life of daily discipline, including the practice of spiritual disciplines.
One does not get in physical shape just eating and reclining. Getting in physical shape does not just happen, is not accidental. The same applies to spiritual wellness.
We eat daily, for we want to take care of the body. Likewise, we exercise to honor mind and body. Some of us deny ourselves certain food pleasures or cut back on portions, for we want to be fit. Hopefully, this is not just an attachment to cultural values of fit-and-trim. Hopefully, caring for the body is an act of gratitude to our Creator and respect for our own selves, as well as those whom we live with and the persons we are called to serve. I, as a pastor, feel under loving obligation to those I serve to model a life of fitness. Being fitter, we are more energetic, more emotionally content, and, generally, feel better about ourselves. Likewise, the health benefits long-term are consequential of taking better care of the body. If we get, to use the words of Eugene Peterson in The Message, “flabbiness,” clothes do not fit as well and we do not seem to feel as well, and parts of our body can begin to manifest symptoms, warning us of potential long-term, irreversible disease.
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Peterson renders “flabbiness” with “spiritual.” Even as, through bad diet and lack of exercise, we can get physically flabby, likewise, through a bad spiritual diet or lack of spiritual exercise, we can get spiritually out of shape.
We train ourselves spiritually, being gentle yet disciplined, according to the writer of I Timothy, for such in-fit religion, or godliness, “helps us in every way.” Indeed, through the fruit of such exercise, we participate in the enjoyment of “life now and forever,” or “eternal life.” Through spiritual disciplines we are being transformed into persons who enjoy heaven on earth, so to speak.
I encourage you to honor your body and apply the same principle to your spiritual life. Do not neglect practike, as the Desert Fathers and Mothers referred to spiritual disciplines, for our over-all health and growing into being in shape, the Christ-shape, the shape of the spiritually fit Christ-like person. These are essential “tools of the spiritual craft," in the words of St. Benedict (born ca. 480), the founder of the Benedictines.
Spiritual Exercises
1. Set aside a least twenty minutes a day, preferably the same time and place, to practice meditation. Consult websites on Centering Prayer (www.centeringprayer.com/) and Christian Meditation (www.wccm.org/ ) to learn more about these two forms of meditation.
2. Consider developing a Rule of Life, reasonable for your life situation, and follow it as a guide to staying spiritually fit. I recommend at least the following aspects for your Rule: Sacrament of the Present Moment, Simplicity, Silence and Solitude, Spiritual Direction, Spiritual Reading, Eucharist.
3. Explore the website for Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation (www.shalem.org/ ).
4. Seek persons of like intent within your congregation to form an accountability group, for encouraging each other in spiritual exercising.
5. Take at least one day each month for complete Silence. With advanced arrangements, most persons can do this.
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