Spiritual Fitness or Physical Fitness

In our culture today we tend to shift to extremes more than ever. There is always something new and desirable to distract us. Here at South Camp physical fitness has become an obsession for many. Some are working out twice a day or are trying to achieve certain goals and there is certainly nothing wrong with that. However, when there is not a balance between physical and spiritual, then a person can become so self-absorbed they become susceptible to the tricks and traps of Satan. People begin to idolized their own bodies without even knowing they are guilty of idolatry. Idolatry is the tendency to value something or someone in such a way that it draws us away from our relationship with Christ or our worship of God. The responsibility of Christians is to honor nothing more than God, to include our own bodies.  Physical fitness becomes an issue of time and focus that can turn into a personal God.
Let me explain what Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:8. Paul told him "for physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." As you can see physical fitness is of some value, but offers nothing to us in the life to come. It's simply designed for us to keep out bodies in good physical health, which absolutely glorifies and honors God. We have been given stewardship over our bodies after all. But as Oswald Chambers wrote "It is not on what we spend the greatest amount of time that molds us the most, but whatever exerts the most power over us." Nothing should exert more power over the Christian than the atonement of Jesus Christ.

I pray God can open the spiritual eyes of our soldiers and teach them that nothing should exert more energy and time over their life than pleasing and serving the Lord.