It Doesn't Take Long

I was not in the gym for 3 months and stopped eating healthy. Before that 3 months I had lost almost 30 pounds, which had taken about 6 months. In half the time, all of the weight found it's way back. I am right back where I started 9 months ago. I am now three day into my workout, and I am sore and uncomfortable. It is unpleasant and I don't like the way that I feel. I will continue with my workouts for several reasons.

1. I know that it is good for me. 
2. I know that eventually it will become a routine and I will no longer be uncomfortable.
3. I know that I need to be in better shape.

Whether it is building muscles or building my relationship with God, the same positive reasons to engage in building ourselves up applies. I know that it is good for me. I know that the more I watch television, go to the movies and listen to secular music the more I am subjected to immoral and negative things. If I focus on meditation, prayer, worship music and my eye is on God I will be processing only good things. If garbage in, garbage out is true so is the exact opposite.  

I may be uncomfortable doing it right now because I am unused to it. That is almost always true of anything when we first begin doing it. Once we do something for several weeks, we become accustomed to it. I need to be in the habit of making God a priority.  Christ made me a priority when He died on the cross. The least I can do is return the favor.  

Finally, I need to be in better shape spiritually. I I know that building my relationship with God is important, and I know that the more I know about him the stronger my faith will become. This world is full of evil and temptation. They never take a day off. If my faith and relationship with Christ do not grow, then eventually the calling of this world will draw me back into it. I need to make sure that I am doing things spiritually healthy on a daily basis.

So, in closing here is why we need to stay vigilant and build our relationship with God. It has actually been proven that the more positive I am, the more I will draw positive people to me. So it would reason that the more I am Christ-focused, the more I will draw Christ-focused people to me. I also need to know that there is no difference between secular time and when I am in church. I always represent Christ. My focus should always be on God no matter where I am, and my actions and words should represent that. If not, I need to get back on track before I become so spiritually out of shape that I just give up. Here is how I stay in shape:

1. Pray without ceasing. Make prayer an ongoing daily conversation with God
2. Read the word of God
3. Live your life guided by the book of James (my personal favorite); read it weekly 
4. Attend church consistently (Church is like a workout supplement)
5. Find a small group or prayer group and begin building your community of believers
6. Find a mentor that you can go to when you have doubts or questions
7. Set up accountability partners everywhere you go (work, gym, small group, church, softball, etc)
8. Always represent Christ in all that you say, think and do!