Like a Physical Workout, Spiritual Maturity Requires Day-by-day Effort

 by Jodi Detrick

What is it about summer that makes a somewhat sedentary person want to dust off the treadmill, dig the wrinkled workout garb from the bottom of the drawer and opt for running shoes over house slippers? Maybe the extra daylight hours create a burst of energy related to elevated serotonin levels. Or just maybe (more likely for some of us) it’s the probability that all that extra light makes it easier for people to see the additional pounds we added during the winter months. Sigh.

Here’s something I’ve learned in the past couple of years: After 50, pounds don’t just creep up on you. That implies they are sneaky in their approach. Oh no! After 50 they just saunter in, look you in the eye and say, “I’m here to stay — you got a problem with that?”

I do have a problem with that, actually. That’s why about three years ago, my husband and I took the plunge and invested in one of those big combination treadmill-elliptical machines, the kind that’s supposed to burn twice the calories in half the time. To be honest, the biggest workout I got during that first year of ownership came from lugging the huge box up the stairs and getting it set up. After the first week, it was easy to think of it as just an odd piece of furniture, like something a graffiti-artist-turned-interior-designer might have come up with.

I would virtually ignore the beast throughout the long winters and drizzly, gray springs. Then, when the weatherman predicted days of increasing sunshine, I’d attack it like crazy, praying for that “twice the calories in half the time” thing to kick in.

But this past year, with a few notable lapses, I’ve actually managed to use my treadmill several times a week. Did I mention I did that all year long? (I’m still wondering what got into me!)

As this summer approached, there was no mad dash to do overtime on the treadmill. While I’m still no candidate for the cover of a fitness magazine, I’m a few pounds lighter and happier with the fit of my clothing (even the dreaded summer version). But the main benefit is feeling stronger, healthier and more energetic.

Here’s the deal: You just can’t fit a year’s worth of fitness into two weeks. Workouts work best over the long haul.

There’s an interesting verse in the Bible that talks about a different kind of “work out.” Philippians 2:12 tells us to “work out our own salvation with reverence and awe.” The next verse says that God works in us to give us both the desire and the ability to do what honors Him. So, we work out what God’s grace has worked in. For a Christ follower like me, growing in faith is a day-by-day process of cooperating with how God is at work in my life.

I sometimes wish I could bestow instant spiritual maturity upon myself and others — twice the patience, kindness, peace, joy, holiness and love in half the time.

But like exercise, spiritual maturity requires consistent effort. As I practice what Christians through the centuries have called the Spiritual Disciplines — prayer, reading and meditating on Scripture, admitting my failures, listening for God’s voice in my heart, being honest and accountable with others, and worshipping Him — over time, there will be change. Endurance for life’s struggles will build. The muscle required to love my neighbor, or even an enemy, will grow stronger. What God has been working inside will be worked out in the way I live.

When that happens, I won’t need to fear what the light of day might show to others, since they’ll see someone who’s beginning to look a little more like Jesus. Now that’s a worthwhile workout!

Jodi Detrick serves the Northwest Ministry Network (Assemblies of God) as Women’s Ministries Director. She is also a public speaker, an author and a Life Coach. 

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