Physical fitness is trending. You do not have to spend much time on the news or social media to find recommendations on exercise, diet, and health.
The benefits of physical fitness are obvious: you have more energy, get sick less, sleep well, and tend to enjoy life more.
Throughout Scripture, physical fitness serves as a metaphor for spiritual fitness. The benefits of being spiritually healthy are equally obvious: you produce good fruit, sin less, love well, and find fulfillment and joy in Christ.
In this article, we will explore several key Bible verses that connect spiritual health and physical fitness, and then discuss how we can apply these to our own lives to grow spiritually healthy.
Walking
Humans were made to walk. For most of our history, we walked everywhere. Over the last hundred years, however, we have become increasingly more sedentary. Many of us go from the car to the office chair to the car to the couch, leaving little time for being on our feet.
Even though we do not need to walk to get places, our bodies do need to walk for our health. In fact, medical research shows that walking just 30 minutes a day, most days of the week, can strengthen your heart and lungs, help manage weight, and lower the risk of conditions like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers. It also supports healthier joints and bones, keeps your muscles stronger for everyday tasks, and is linked with living longer and staying independent as you age.
Walking also benefits your mind and mood. Studies show that regular walkers tend to have fewer sick days, better immune function, improved sleep, sharper thinking, and lower stress and anxiety.
During a sermon on April 26, Pastor Jeff Norris explained the benefits of walking. He then asked a simple question, “If the benefits of walking are so obvious and the work required is so easy, then why do so many of us not do it?”
We get busy with life, we move fast, and walking just feels too slow! This mentality, unfortunately, is leaving us overweight, exhausted, burnt out, and sick.
The same can be true about our spiritual health. Galatians 5:16 (ESV) says, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Another verse, 1 John 1:7 (ESV), says, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
Several more passages in Scripture use this terminology; we are called to walk in the ways of the Lord. The benefits are obvious: we resist temptation, live in the light, have stronger fellowship, and find joy and peace in Christ’s forgiveness.
The call to walk by the Spirit is a simple one, and yet, just like physical walking, many of us rarely do it. We skip personal worship time, we forget about God during our workday, and we get distracted by the noise and demands of this world.
We must learn to make the time to walk with the Lord. Walking is not just something you do once; it is something you do step-by-step throughout every day, week, and year. Consistently walk in your faith, spend time with the Lord, and see how your spiritual health is transformed.
Training for the Race
Walking is not the only metaphor used by Scripture to explain spiritual fitness.
In 1 Corinthians 9:24–27 (ESV), Paul says this, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 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.”
Sabastian Sawe of Kenya recently made the news for winning the London Marathon and setting a new world record. He was the first person to finish a marathon (26.2 miles) in under 2 hours, with a final time of 1:59:30. This record was once considered impossible, but Sawe did it.
Sawe is a naturally gifted runner, but make no mistake, he trained for tens of thousands of hours to achieve this record. He had to be disciplined in everything: what he ate, drank, how often he slept, his pace during long training runs, and so much more.
You do not have to be a record holder, however, to recognize the benefits of training and self-control when it comes to physical fitness. If your goal is to simply finish a 5k, you will need to train. Longer distances require even more training and discipline, and training to actually win your races requires even more.
Running a race in your community or even competing as an athlete at a professional level can be fun and rewarding, but Paul reminds us that preaching the gospel is for “an imperishable” prize and should be taken all the more seriously.
We should be actively training our hearts and minds in the good news so that we are always prepared to share the gospel. The more you train, the easier these things become. So train often and train well.
Your Diet Matters
What you eat and drink matters to your physical health and has a direct impact on your training.
Focusing on nutrient-dense foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats is vital to your health. Medical studies show that healthy eating helps you live longer, supports healthy skin, teeth, eyes, muscles, bones, and immunity, lowers the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers, aids digestion, and helps you achieve and maintain a healthy weight.
Healthy eating, however, is not always easy. There are plenty of treats and junk foods in the world. They are often easy to find, easy to eat, and taste delicious, but they also cannot really satisfy your nutritional needs.
In the same way, we must consider our spiritual diet. Scripture consistently compares a relationship with God to a fulfilling diet. John 6:35 (ESV) says, “Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.’”
And yet many of us prefer junk food. We pursue idols, consuming them because they are easy and accessible and often taste good at first, but they cannot satisfy, and they cannot compare to the rich diet that comes from the Lord.
Isaiah 55:2 (ESV) says, “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.”
Your diet matters when it comes to your spiritual health. If you fill your mind with God’s teachings, you will thrive. If you fill it with worldly messages, the 24/7 news cycle, social media algorithms, and other bits of junk food, you will find yourself starved for meaning and satisfaction.
Take the time to eat what is good.
Coaching and Accountability
I have a friend who has run several marathons. His first goal was to simply finish, and he did. His second goal was to qualify for the Boston Marathon, but this was a much together challenge.
The Boston Marathon is a prestigious race with stringent qualification time requirements. My friend knew that, to achieve his goal, he would need a running coach. Someone who had qualified for the race before, an expert in training and diet. Someone who would push him to train consistently, hold him accountable, and encourage him to grow as a runner.
He qualified for the race. It was a huge accomplishment, and one he could not have done without his coach.
Coaching is helpful for anyone looking to get into better shape. You do not need to have a goal like “qualify for Boston” to benefit from a coach. Many people would love to go to the gym and lift weights, for instance, but have no idea what to do or where to focus when they arrive there. Personal trainers can teach you how to do the workouts and provide a plan that can be followed.
Spiritual health is the same way. We benefit from coaches: we need people who have walked the paths we need to walk, who can encourage us and push us to grow in our faith.
1 Thessalonians 2:11–12 (ESV) brings these ideas together: “For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.”
Jesus gave us the model of discipleship because He knew how important coaching is for spiritual health. We are all growing in our faith, and we are called to share what we have learned and pass it on to others (see 2 Timothy 2:2 (ESV)).
Life is busy, and we do not always know what to study or even how to study God’s Word. This is the beauty of life-on-life discipleship groups. Participants learn from a discipleship leader (or coach) and follow a step-by-step plan like The Journey curriculum. No wandering aimlessly at the gym – your spiritual growth can be focused and productive, and cover all areas of spiritual health.
Conclusion
Spiritual fitness, just like physical fitness, is rarely about extreme actions. Rather, it requires simplicity and consistency. Walking daily for 20-30 minutes tends to be better for your health than doing a weekly walk of three hours. Training for a long-distance run or seeing results from weight lifting also requires consistency if you want to see results.
We will never reach a milestone where we can stop exercising because we have reached peak physical fitness. As soon as you stop exercising, you begin to lose some of those benefits.
In the same way, spiritual health is about consistency. We are called to walk with the Lord daily. We are called to be “like a tree planted by streams of water” (Psalm 1 (ESV)), receiving nourishment from God every day. We will never, at least in this life, reach peak spiritual fitness. If we stop walking with the Lord, we will start to lose the benefits, and our spiritual health will suffer.
One of the best ways you can ensure regular spiritual exercise is to join a life-on-life missional discipleship group. In this group, you will find coaching and accountability that drives you to be consistent, as well as a plan to follow that will help you grow spiritually. Looking to start a discipleship program at your own church? Check out our discipleship training process.