The Balance and Knowing What To Believe

Dear soldiers in Christ, I've got more powerful verses to share with you! I'm going to talk about "The Balance and Knowing What To Believe"!

From the Bible, the book of 1 Timothy 4:7-8, it says "Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. 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."

This is a really powerful verse!! It's straight to the point, and it's really true! What's worth all the training in gyms or sports when you don't really exercise yourself spiritually? Most guys would make themselves stronger and bigger and "Buffed-up", yet they forget the most important thing in life which is exercising spritually! Many guys exercise physically so that the girl next door or the girl of their dreams would fall in love romantically with their awesome body! But what's the point when your knowledge in God is empty??

With your amazing body, you can be a hero!
But without God, you can be a total zero!

Let me share with you this conversation that these 2 guys had,

Daniel: "You're still working out? Your sister said you left for the gym three hours ago!"
Joseph: "Yeah, dude. I'm loving it. I'm starting to see big-time results."
Daniel: "You are looking bigger. Hey, you're not using steroids, are you?"
Joseph: "No way! I mean, there's no question, they do work. You can turn into an animal in no time. But do I want to shrink myself where it counts, lose my hair, break out all over and start punching lockers? No thanks. I'm just using legal supplements and busting my tail in the gym."
Daniel: "So what's your goal?"
Joseph: "To get ripped. To be massive. You know, to just look really good. The bigger you are, the more people notice you."
Daniel :"Yeah, but look around you. Here's a bunch of guys spending hours a day in front of a mirror. When does trying to look good become an unhealthy obsession?"
Joseph: "Now you're starting to sound like my sister. She's always saying, 'Why don't you spend even ten minutes a day thinking about how you look on the inside?' Hey, look, I know al that stuff. I'm a Christian. Why can't I be a Christian bodybuilder and have an influence on these guys?"
Daniel: "You can. No doubt. Let me ask you one last question, and then I'll let you get on with your curls. If something happened and you couldn't be massive, and you had to settle for an average physique, would you feel like you're less of a man? Would you feel inferior?"
Joseph: "I don't know. Maybe. But I'd rather not think about that right now."

You see, based on this conversation, Joseph is definitely lacking in something! And that's balance! Balance is fairly important!

Is it a sin to want to be in good shape? Not at all! But it's not enough to give only our bodies a workout. 1 Timothy 4:7-8 already states clearly that godliness has value for all things!

One of the saddest things in the world is the person whose body is strong, but whose character is weak. What happens when the muscles begin to sag? What will you have then?

If you're getting yourself built-up, try to organize it! While you're busy pumping up physically, don't let your spiritual muscles go to waste. Try coordinating your physical and spiritual workout schedules! For instance, on the days you work your arms, do your Bible study! On the days you work your chest and abs, do a service project for your church!

As for 1 Timothy 4:7, we need to be able to discern what is right and wrong! Knowing what to believe is really crucial!

You see, Timothy wasn't the only one who had to worry about "godless myths" and "old wives tales." Here is a list of a few popular LIES that the world has input into many of us, and we need to be aware of them:
(i) "It doesn't matter what you believe about spiritual things, as long as you believe in something." [This is a huge lie!]
(ii) "Jesus had some good ideas, but he wasn't the Son of God." [The Bible is a record of history, and it was recorded that Jesus is the Son of God!]
(iii) "It's only a sin if it hurts someone else." [Obviously a lie!]
(iv) "If you give to this ministry, God will make you wealthy." [It doesn't work this way!]
(v) "If you can't accept someone's lifestyle, you're being narrow-minded." [Oh no you're not!]
(vi) "Sex is OK if two people agree to it and really care about each other." [If you both really care for each other, you wouldn't have sex before marriage! Love and sex is not the same!]

I encourage you, like an athlete training for the big game, train yourself to be godly! You can do it with the help of Christ who strengthens you =)