Find Your Motivation
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. (1 Timothy 4:7-8)
Truth statement: I am in much better shape now than I was in my 20’s and 30’s. How did I pull this off? Simple: I found my motivation. Let me tell you the story.
When I was thirty-two, I had a bulging disc in my lower back (between L5 and S1 to be exact) from playing basketball. If you’ve never had such an injury with sciatic nerve pain screaming down your leg, well, let me tell you…it is no picnic. On the back end of surgery, my doctor told me the key to preventing this from happening again was exercise. I didn’t want to experience that again, so I began my exercise regimen in1992. I found my motivation. While I don’t particularly enjoy exercising, I always ask myself, “What’s the alternative?” The alternative is to put myself in a place where I have another back injury or worse. So, I strap on my tennies and get after it. This has worked for me for over 25 years now.
Paul was trying to pass on a similar message to his young prodigy, Timothy. He said, “physical training is of some value.” No kidding. When you exercise regularly it helps your blood pressure, your heart rate, increases your energy level and endurance, heightens your mental acumen, builds up muscle, helps control your weight, helps you sleep better, feel better, and best of all, it enables you to pick up and stay up with your grandkids. People who consistently train physically, win more. I know if I stop exercising, I am intentionally and knowingly reducing my chances of experiencing these outcomes. Each morning I say to myself, “I can either spend my entire day feeling guilty I didn’t exercise or I can get it done in 30 minutes first thing in the morning, check it off my list and walk through my day guilt free.”
Paul said physical training is of “some value.” A better translation would be, “value for a little while.” A disciplined regiment of exercise improves the quality of your life and often the duration of your life on earth. But it pales in comparison to eternity. That’s why Paul follows this admonition up with an even greater one – “but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” Spiritual training not only improves the quality of our lives now, but carries on with us into eternity.
Paul said to the folks in Philippi, “whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:9). Anybody want to experience peace? Then practice your faith. God tells us when we are still, we will know that he is God (Psalm 46:10). Knowing God might have its benefits, you think?
The list of assets from practicing our faith is massive:
· We have joy in spite of our circumstances (John 15:9-11)
· We make better decisions (James 1:5)
· We are better people to be around (Galatians 5:16-23)
· We’ll live in the center of God’s will (Romans 12:1-2)
· We will be more successful (Joshua 1:8)
And the list goes on…
Spiritual discipline is like prayer. Bible study, offering my time and engaging in community can sometimes be like strapping on a pair of tennis shoes and taking off on a 5K run in the cold. We often want to take a pass for sitting on the couch with a bag of potato chips watching a show on Netflix. I get it – I love potato chips (salt and vinegar are my favorite) and I love Netflix (particularly if it has at least five seasons to watch). To find my motivation, I ask the same question –
