It’s hard to be on social media and not be bombarded by the many fitness gurus wanting you to follow their routine. I find it hard to be in everyday conversation without the topic of fitness coming up.
Because the vast majority of us don’t have physically demanding jobs, a fitness routine is a good and right thing to keep our bodies and minds healthy. Have you ever considered how you might glorify God with your fitness routine? Here are five ways to consider.
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1. Check Your Motivations
1. Check Your Motivations
Ask yourself why you’re exercising. Recognizing your motivation is essential because your motives often unearth your idols. For instance, is your exercise routine primarily geared toward shaping your body to be your ideal size? Are you chasing a thin, lean, or sculpted figure? Are you chasing a certain number on the scale or a particular clothing size?
If your answer is yes, it’s time to explore the possibility that you idolize your body image. It’s time to ask yourself if you’re trying to glorify God by caring for your body, or are you trying to glorify yourself by looking a certain way? Do you find your value in our Lord, or in the way your clothes fit?
We’re told in 1 Corinthians 6:19 that our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit within us. We were bought at a price. We are not our own, but God’s. It’s easy to use this verse as an excuse to idolize our bodies. If my body is a temple for the Holy Spirit, shouldn’t I sculpt it to be the best it can be?
The answer is yes and no. We should care for, respect, and honor our bodies. But to what end? One way we can glorify God through our fitness routine is to be motivated by caring for the body He has given us for His purposes, NOT to sculpt ourselves into our idea of perfection.
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2. Build Self-Discipline
2. Build Self-Discipline
How much time have you spent in the past week reading your Bible? What about prayer? How much time have you spent talking with our Lord? Now ask yourself how much time you’ve spent on your fitness routine within the past week. The answers to these questions will most likely reveal where your priorities lie.
If your answers reveal that you’re spending more time on fitness than you are with your Heavenly Father, I would encourage you to make some changes. In 2 Corinthians 4:16, we're told that our outer self is wasting away, but our inner self is being renewed day by day. This doesn’t mean we should neglect our outer self, but it does mean that we shouldn’t ignore our inner self.
If you read on in 2 Corinthians to verse 18, we’re told to look not to the things seen but to the unseen. The things seen are transient, but the unseen things are eternal. Again, this isn’t saying we shouldn’t care for our bodies, but how much more should we be caring for our souls?
If you are engaged in a regular fitness routine, I think it’s fair to say that you have built self-discipline. One way we can glorify God with our fitness routine is to apply that same self-discipline to our walk with the Lord. Display your self-discipline in the gym and the Word.
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3. Be Healthy to Be Useful
3. Be Healthy to Be Useful
Have you ever thought about why you want to be healthy? That may seem like a silly question, but it’s an important one. I, for example, want to be healthy simply because I don’t want to be unhealthy. Also, I want to do all I can to minimize the care I might need as I get older.
I don’t think it’s selfish to say I want to be healthy to continue to enjoy being active with my husband, children, and grandchildren. I don’t think it’s selfish to say I want to be healthy to stay off of medications and, Lord willing, out of a nursing home as I age.
However, I find it interesting that I don’t often think about wanting to be healthy to be useful, not just to my family, but to my church body. Imagine how differently we would go about caring for ourselves if our first ambition were to stay healthy to advance the Kingdom of God.
If you have a regular fitness routine, like me, I’m sure you have a long list of reasons. I encourage you to add to that list. One way we can glorify God in our fitness routine is to regularly ask Him to grant us health so that we might be helpful in specific ways for His divine purposes.
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4. Rest and Recover
4. Rest and Recover
When was the last time you allowed yourself to rest? And I mean the rest of the time, other than sleeping at night. This is an important question because we live in a fast-paced, work-driven society and because it’s easy to become obsessed with fitness and neglect the need to rest.
Rest is crucial for physical and mental well-being and allows the body time to repair itself. When we rest, our bodies repair tissue, rebuild muscles, and boost our immune systems. We need rest to improve mental clarity, regulate our moods, and cognitive function.
We see a great example of much-needed rest in 1 Kings 19 when Elijah was terrified and discouraged from being chased by people who wanted to kill him. God came to him and told Elijah to eat and rest before continuing his journey.
Rest doesn’t come easily to everyone, but it should be a built-in habit in your fitness routine. One way we can glorify God in our fitness routine is to rest, to allow our bodies to recover, as well as our minds and spirits.
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5. Be Patient, a New Body is Coming
5. Be Patient, a New Body is Coming
Have you ever considered what your new heavenly body will look like? What do you picture when you think about this? I admit, I think less about what I might look like and more about having a body without arthritis or food sensitivities.
Reflecting on the fact that our earthly bodies are temporary should help us overlook, or at least not obsess about, the things we wish were different. Our bodies will change due to age, life circumstances, and the fact that we live in a fallen world.
We’re told in Philippians 3:20-21 that our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
One way we can glorify God through our fitness routine is to be gracious to our changing, aging bodies - to not obsess over having a “perfect” physique, but instead care for the body we have now and look forward to the new, glorious body we will be given in our heavenly home.
Once you start thinking about ways to glorify God with your fitness routine, I hope you come up with your own list. For instance, you could use a walk or run as prayer time, listen to sermons, or listen to praise and worship music.
Whatever your list looks like, I believe your fitness routine will take on a whole new meaning when you start exploring ways to glorify God through it. Invest in your soul as you invest in your body.
Photo Credit: Unsplash/Matese Fields
Originally published May 05, 2025.
