Desire, and sometimes even knowledge itself, is not good enough to be fit or suitable for what you are called to be, especially if you value excellence and expect to have endurance and longevity in those areas of influence. While we tend to put our physical fitness and well-being on the back burner, we must realize we have a responsibility and obligation to manage and steward our bodies well if we want to be fully fit to be what we are called to be. 

As a church, we are in a series called Get Your Life. This past week we focused on the topic: Get Your Life In Shape Physically. The previous week we saw through scriptures what Fit For The Call Mentally means and why it is important to be mentally fit. In this blog, we are going to see through scriptures what it means to be Fit For The Call Physically and why physical fitness is important. 

Let's make sure we are on the same page. What does physical and fitness mean? What does it mean to be fit and in shape?

•  Physical
•  relating to the body
•  Fitness
•  the quality of being suitable to fulfill a particular role or task.
•  Fit as an adjective. 
•  to be of suitable quality, standard, or type to meet the required purpose. 
•  In shape
•  to be in good physical condition.

Therefore, to be fit for the call means to be suitable to fulfill the particular roles, tasks, and responsibilities seen in your areas of influence and impact as assigned and determined by God. 

Let's discover what the Word of God have to say about our body.

For the live YouTube message this blog is derived from, see the embedded video at the end of this article.

Fit For The Call Physically

Physical Training

“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.” 1 Timothy 4:8 ESV

While it should not be your main pursuit, physical training does have value. If you want to be fit for what you are called to be, you are going to have to make sure the primary vehicle that allows you to do so, your body, is suitable to show up in excellence to fulfill what you are called to do. Don't mistake "some" or "little value" to subconsciously mean "no value".

Discipline

“Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” 1 Corinthians 9:25-27 ESV

When evaluating the stewardship and maintenance of your body, can you say you are keeping it under control? Are you exercising self-control when it comes to what you do with and put in your body? Athletes do this for a temporary goal but how much more should you and I exercise self-control when it comes to caring for and maintaining our bodies? As believers we expect to receive new heavenly bodies but my question to you is how well are you stewarding the first one God gave you? We find ourselves disqualified from the things we were called and created to be and do when we lack self control. Choosing not to keep our bodies under control leads to us becoming physically unfit or suitable for what is required for what we are called to be and do.

 Nutrition

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV

Are you glorifying God with what you eat and drink? It is not dishonoring to enjoy sweets and treats but if your overall nutrition is unhealthy, that is not glorifying God with what you are eating. It is okay to enjoy your favorite drinks but if overall that is what is being consumed more than water, you are not honoring God with what you drink. When you eat things that actually fuel and nourishes your body, that's glorifying God. When you consume adequate amounts of water to stay hydrated, that glorifies God with what you drink. You can get a glimpse of how overall you are honoring and glorifying God with what you eat and drink by how your body feels and at times how it looks. Yes, occasionally consume things that are convenient delicious but be sure that your overall nutritional lifestyle is one that the Lord and your body would be pleased with. 

Maintenance 

“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.” 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 ESV

How you care for your temple, which is your body, matters. It is the first thing you were given by God. Even more important, it is the primary vehicle God not only uses to advance His Kingdom, but is also the very place in which He chooses to reside for those who have put their faith in Jesus. What occurs in the physical and spiritual impacts each other. How you steward and care for your body affects your spiritual life. Your body houses your spirit and as a believer, you are now hidden in Christ Who lives on the inside of you by way of the Holy Spirit. Because They are one, God the Father (God), Son (Jesus), and Spirit (The Holy Spirit), you have the complete Trinity living on the inside of you through the Holy Spirit. In how you are maintaining and caring for your temple, how are They living? Are they putting in extra work or utilizing your faithful partnership, through the proper maintenance of your body, to produce the good work through your life God intended to in your various areas of influences in the various seasons of your life? A lack of proper maintenance on our part produces limitations, delay, and cancellations that could have been avoided if we chose to maintain the first thing He gave us manage and maintain.

Physical Fitness Mission and Vision

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV

Get a vision for your physical fitness. Your vision should be to create and maintain the best temple possible for God to reside in through the Holy Spirit. Be sure that while you should want to create and maintain the most beautiful temple for Him, you are doing so as directed by him based on His pleasure. What does He want his temple to look and feel like. What should the focus of the temple and its maintenance be in this season? 

Get and stay on mission when it comes to your physical fitness. Glorify God with your body. Yes the context of the scripture is addressing sexual sin but lets not negate the fact that what you consume and do with your body affects your body and therefore is a way you glorify Him with it.

Presentation

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

With what you have and where you are when it comes to your body, how are you presenting it? What is your spiritual worship to God like when it comes to your body? What needs to change? What sacrifices need to be made to better present your body in the way that is holy, acceptable, and pleasing to God. Don't wait to achieve the body you desire to have. With where you are now as you progress in your physical fitness journey, be intentional with how you present the body you are working to maintain, grow, and develop. If you are expecting a new heavenly body, why not be more intentional about stewarding and caring for the one you have now!

Fit For The Call Physically Message Replay