How Strong are You?

How often do you work out, one to three times per week, more often than that? Do you religiously squeeze in a workout no matter what may be happening in your hectic schedule? Taking care of our bodies is important. We should eat right and get enough exercise, but how often do you exercise your spiritual muscles? Do you make that a priority in your schedule? Maybe you are asking, "What do you mean by spiritual muscles?" Well, thanks for asking!

I didn't come up with that term. I have heard it many times over the past number of years, but I like what it means. Exercising spiritually is simply growing in the Lord. Whenever we are put to the test, so to speak, we are being given a chance to exercise our faith which inevitably allows us to gain strength in our faith. The specific exercise may a situation like when we end up with an extra expense that we just can't seem to cover on paper, when one of our family members falls ill, if we lose our job and even daily trials like an annoying co-worker or an angry boss. It can also be just setting aside OUR desires for a few hours each week for church or Bible study! We are so blessed because we don't even have to try to squeeze these workouts into our schedule! God gives us opportunities every day to exercise.

As we look to the Lord for encouragement and direction, we are taking action that is strengthening our spiritual muscles. As we become stronger, God asks us to do harder things. If you have a trainer and they start you out lifting 10 pounds, eventually they will be increasing that to 20 and then 30 and so on, as you are able to handle more. God does the same thing with us.

Now, the situation itself isn't any use to us unless we take the action to do the exercise. This involves time in prayer, reading His Word and seeking godly counsel from mature Christians. As we work through the situation and put God first we receive help and power from the Holy Spirit and we then grow stronger for the next 10 pounds of weight. Why does God want us to be strong spiritually speaking? Because we have work to do for Him and it requires us to stand firm in difficult situations. Being a Christian is pretty easy in this country, but it is becoming more difficult. Not only do we need to be able to stand for God's values and God's name but we need to be careful not to fall into the traps of society's victim mentality. Weak Christians will not be willing nor will they have the spiritual strength to do this. As we watch the Lord work in our lives, we will become bolder and we will desire to share Him with others. So, how strong are you? Do you have what it takes to be a strong firm believer in Christ? If not are you willing and ready to put in the proper time and effort to be trained? Don't wait until tomorrow. Start exercising those spiritual muscles today by spending 20 minutes alone with the Lord!

Deuteronomy 31:6, 1st Corinthians 16:13, Ephesians 6:10