Christian Living

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Getting in Shape Spiritually, Mentally, and Physically
by Dan Blankenship



Last Thanksgiving, I did something dumb. I signed up for a six-mile running race that I had not adequately trained to complete. By adequately trained I mean that I hadn’t trained at all, so the entire six miles felt like I was running up Pikes Peak in Colorado with twenty-pound weights tied to my feet. After completing the race, the rest of the day my legs throbbed with anger. I couldn’t blame them. After all, it wasn’t my legs’ fault that I had a mental lapse of anything that might resemble good judgment.

There was something positive that came out of my masochistic endeavor. My mind seem to be clearer, more focused on the rest of the day’s events. Pushing my physical body to exhaustion had awakened the mental awareness of my brain. I noticed my conversations with the other runners after the race were full of quick-witted banter that isn’t usually my forte. On the way home, I continually made mental notes about future column subjects that I would like to address. It was as if my brain had been pumped into overdrive by the endorphin releasing exercise I had just performed.

As Christians living in an ever-increasing hectic world, it is important to remember that one of the best ways to beat stress is to exercise daily. We must also remember to be well rounded in that effort, not just challenging our bodies to be all they can be. Our mind and spirit need to be exercised as well. Ignoring any one of the three assets of human existence can directly affect the other two.

It is virtually impossible to equally divide a person’s time concerning his spiritual, mental, and physical training, but it is vital for Christians to understand that all three are extremely dependent on one another.

If education is ignored, trying to fully comprehend and embrace God’s word can become a bit overwhelming. So the mental has a direct effect on the spiritual.

If the physical body is ignored, tiredness and illness can severely hamper a believer’s ability to find the time and make the effort to absorb God’s message or help others see how the body is a temple – a living example of how Christ changes lives.

If the spiritual is ignored, the believer can become engulfed in a world that is designed to choke off the Lord’s promise to strengthen us in all that we do. When we study and understand God’s message, we carry that weapon of hope in all that we do. We worry less. We relax more. And we accept that we are three part beings, physical, mental, and spiritual. God created us that way – we should live that way.

My Thanksgiving Day adventure reminded that God wants us to be a living sacrifice, an ambassador for Him. I can’t be a successful seed sower if I cannot effectively use Jesus to change my own character. It is with that in mind that I challenge myself, and others, to make 2006, a year in which real growth, spiritually, physically, and mentally, takes place.

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