Work Out: The Eternal Value of Godliness

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. (1 Timothy 4:8, NIV)

When I was a freshman in high school, I was in baseball off-season in the fall. That meant that during the athletic period at school, we spent an hour and a half getting into shape for the spring season. We ran, lifted weights, and did lots of drills. We even started doing morning workouts. We hit the weight room at six am and lifted until seven. Then I went to school and then worked out at two pm. Day in and day out, it was painful and difficult.

I complained.

A lot.

But then I started to see results. I could run a mile without being too out of breath, and my clothes fit much looser. I didn’t make the team in the spring, but that was ok; I had a new passion for working out.

Once I got a car, I remembered this passion and got hooked.

I became obsessed with getting more in shape. I bought a gym membership and went every day. I took protein before every lift. I even went to the gym each summer night after completing my Chick-fil-A shift. I loved it. I loved seeing the results of my hard work and the overall benefits to my health and self-esteem.

But over time, I got busy. I could no longer spend two hours a day at the gym — it was too time-consuming. Then, as I lifted and ran less and less, the benefits of working out also disappeared. Working out produces results, but you can only get those results when you work out. Sadly, there is no substitute for hard work.

Our world is flooded with get-fit-quick schemes. Shortcuts are advertised everywhere to get into shape and stay thin. We often know what dietary and lifestyle choices we should make to improve our health. And although we are bombarded with maintaining our physical fitness, we often fail to value our spiritual health on the same level. However, Scripture corrects this error. We can see from this verse that the two aren’t even comparable. Physical fitness will give us more energy and a healthier life, but that is all it can bring. When we die, all those days spent at the gym will not benefit us anymore.

However, our spiritual well-being gives us incalculable blessings. During our time on earth, we grow nearer to the Lord, day by day, as we increasingly enjoy Him. As our intimacy with Him strengthens, we see more of His kingdom coming into our lives. Our families, colleagues, students, and loved ones also benefit as the glory of the Lord reflects off of us. And then, when we go home, we can be encouraged that training up in godliness yields results in eternity. So why would we not invest our time and energy into our spiritual health, which will benefit us now and forever?

What does “training in godliness” look like? I’ll give you two examples. I taught online when my family and I were back in America during COVID. This meant that I was done with class around two am. However, I was still so keyed up from teaching I couldn’t fall asleep. Instead, I started using the time to pray. The house was quiet, I was all alone, and I had plenty of things to bring to the Lord. I would pray for five minutes or so the first week and then head to bed. But soon, my endurance grew. I started praying for ten or fifteen minutes. Just like beginning conditioning training, the distance I could run increased. I routinely prayed for thirty minutes at a time, but the crazy thing was it never felt like it.

I consciously kept this routine and started seeing results throughout the day. I was much more in tune with the Holy Spirit. I could more clearly discern His voice. I was more sensitive to His leading. I started noticing that I would pray more quickly throughout the day. I’d be walking to the store and felt compelled to pray for each house as I walked by. Old friends came to mind, and I prayed for them as well. I was much more present and engaged with God.

It was amazing.

Another example is the first time I started to take Bible reading seriously. I had always read casually and not consistently. But I was challenged by a Bible professor I had in college to really know my faith and love God with all my mind. Why didn’t I push myself to know Scripture better? I had spent years in a gym lifting weights because I cared about my physical strength, but I was satisfied being a weak Christian. Something’s wrong with that picture. What if I actually tried? What if I had the same dedication to my spiritual growth and health as I did to my physical?

So, I started to read books of the Bible I had never read before.

And I saw the results.

As you read more and more of God’s Word, you start to see more and more connections. Stories and references mean more to you as you see how it all fits into God’s Great Plan of Redemption. Verses took on new meaning, and I was challenged to comprehend and meditate on deeper truths of God. I started listening to podcasts on theology and read more of it too. It felt like I was back in the gym. I heard words I didn’t know what they meant and listened to debates about topics way over my head. But slowly, I could lift more and more.

And I saw the results.

Knowing more about God, I could better process things like being stuck outside China during Covid. Because I knew God’s heart better, I didn’t despair. I knew that my circumstances did not reflect His love for me. Romans 8 reminds me that nothing can separate me from His love. This helped me to encourage others in my similar situation as my faith grew and grew.

It was amazing. Truly, godliness has tangible benefits in this life. And God promises future blessings as well. What are those? I have no idea, but God says they are blessings, so I’ll trust Him and strive to pursue godliness in order to find out.

However, we should take it more seriously. We don’t think about our spiritual lives like Paul describes to Timothy. Maybe we think we are just born fit or see someone strong in their faith and assume God just waved a magic wand, but God doesn’t work that way. He gives us tools – exercises to do to grow our faith. It is incumbent on us to work out.

The problem is we don’t do it.

We sit on the couch instead of getting alone to pray. We are satisfied with only reading one verse before bed or never thinking deeply about anything related to God or our faith.

The biggest reason we don’t do these things is the same reason we struggle to work out – time and effort physically. Getting in shape is not easy; it is very painful. Spiritual training is also painful. You must read the Bible when you sometimes don’t want to. You will need to sacrifice something to be by yourself and pray. It takes dying to yourself daily and carrying your cross. It means starting new habits and ending bad ones. It looks like serving others, apologizing when you wrong them, and praying for your enemies. Make no mistake; it is not easy.

But it is worth it and it will be worth it.

Physical training is essential to steward our health. God has given you your body, and we must use it to honor Him by regularly exercising and eating well. To disregard our physical health is to dishonor God. But the 5k that you ran and the diet you are on will not profit you as much as consistent prayer and fasting. Righteousness has value for all things. Therefore, focus more on eternal training and not only on the temporary and fleeting results of physical fitness.

For more from Warriors of Grace check out our articles on biblical manhood or our podcast at YouTube.