Fitness Friday: Be Willing to Pay the Price

As Christians, we are called grow and maintain an active, daily relationship with Jesus: to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12).

How do we do that? Let me tell you a little bit about what I learned, and why I wrote IntentionalFitness.

Since I dedicated my life to Jesus at an older age (I was 35), I had to unlearn many behaviors adapted from living in a very ungodly world, and then re-learn God’s ways. Many of the world’s ways are centered on us and what we can do for ourselves. God’s way is the way of love and based upon what we can do for others.

Each day, we need to make intentional choices. 

We can:

• choose to invest time knowing God more by reading His word and spending time with Him, or do what we feel like doing and plop in front of the TV.
• choose to accept and be thankful for what we have and focus on what we can give to others, or complain about what God hasn’t done for us yet or how life is so unfair.
• choose to obey something God clearly told us to do, or choose to do what we want instead.

I realized that living for God was not about giving up, but about exchanging.

Everything in life has a price.

Buying an item at the store costs money, and if you don’t pay the price, the cost is you don’t get the item. Losing weight and gaining health cost time and discipline, but if you don’t do it, the cost is you continue to feel lousy, clothes don’t fit, you take on health risks, etc.

The same is true for spiritual peace.

The cost of clinging to your old ways is that you’ll never discover the peace, joy, and fullness of life that only God can provide. But if you are willing to pay the price to give up old ways, you not only gain increased peace and joy, but you can also reveal Jesus to others by your life example, just like many who revealed Jesus to me.

When we are intentional about living for Jesus, God’s love is revealed, and the Kingdom of God advances so that many will come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

And that is what life is all about.

TODAY’S CHALLENGE: What one thing can you intentionally change in your daily spiritual life that will move you closer to Jesus? Resolve to do it today!

If you've read Intentional Fitness, I'd love to hear your thoughts about it. If you haven't, please check it out on Amazon.com!