A few months ago, before I turned 52 years old, for the first time in my life, I stepped into a gym and exercised. For someone who has never ran on a treadmill or worked out on any fitness machines, I suppose this can be considered a milestone?

For this personally significant moment, I have my co-workers to thank. Although I knew about the newly reopened Queenstown Sports Centre nearby our church, I was hardly curious or enthusiastic about it.

As much as I am aware of the health risks associated with a relatively sedentary lifestyle, I did not feel I was missing out on anything. But since they suggested checking out the facilities, there was no excuse for me to decline joining them.

Ever since my first venture into previously unknown territory, I am glad to share that my gym experience has been largely positive contrary to my initial apprehension. To be sure, I think it helps that I can look forward to breakfast with my co-workers after the exercises. Furthermore, the gym facility is as good as free since we could utilise our $100 ActiveSG credits.

My recent gym experience got me thinking about Apostle Paul’s exhortation to “train yourselves for godliness, for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:7-8).

Given that physical fitness requires discipline and consistency, how are Christians to train ourselves to grow in godliness? Is there a gym we can go to regularly work out our “spiritual muscles” lest they atrophy and we end up becoming spiritually unhealthy and unfit for God’s sacred calling?

In many ways, bodily training bears some similarities to training for godliness. For example, there were some mornings that I was tempted to sleep in or wanted to excuse myself from exercising as I could still feel my aching muscles from the previous workout. Whenever I sense those sentiments arising, I would try to nip it in the bud by reminding myself of my motivations for exercising. Admittedly, there were occasions when the comfort of my bed was more persuasive.

In any case, much of my motivation has to do with taking responsibility for my own health for the sake of my loved ones. The last thing I want is to burden them with my health and mobility issues because I have been lazy and failed to do my part to mitigate against muscle loss, etc. 

Likewise, if Christians are to be consistent in training for godliness, our motivations need to be something more compelling than soothing our conscience or impressing others with our religiosity. While athletes train for physical benefits and to give themselves a chance to win a temporal prize (1 Corinthians 9:24-25), Christians must desire godliness as something infinitely valuable to us now and all of eternity.

Moreover, godliness is not exactly about us. It is about how we can glorify God and how God can work through us to be a blessing unto others. Whereas we can be fit and not lift a finger to help the needy, godliness is often demonstrated through humbly seeking the good of others.

Secondly, just as there are no shortcuts to physical fitness, we know that sanctification is no walk in the park. If I aspire to build up my stamina and muscle strength for the long run, I need to show up faithfully at the gym and gradually increase the intensity of my exercises.

I am also reminded to persevere and learn not to be discouraged when progress seems slow. Every small step counts and it helps to have friends to cheer me on. Furthermore, there is no need to compare myself with others.

Similarly, training in godliness requires persistent effort over a lifetime. It should be of concern when many who profess to be Christians barely show signs of godliness even though they regularly attend worship services. Could it be that they have not been intentional in the spiritual disciplines of Scripture reading, prayer, service, etc?

Nevertheless, I wish to highlight that spiritual disciplines are but the means and not the ends. The purpose of practicing these disciplines is godliness. But we should not conclude that we are godly simply because we are practising those spiritual disciplines. That was the error of the Pharisees who presume that by fastidiously observing their religious routines, they were walking rightly before God. 

Likewise, we can be very disciplined in keeping to our Bible reading schedule and preparing for Bible studies. However, that in and of themselves will amount to little if we do not bear the fruit of the Spirit in our speech and relationship with others.

In many ways, waking up to read the Bible while enjoying a cup of coffee in the comfort of our homes feels more like warm-up exercises. No wonder it is called a means of grace! It allows us to be still to commune with God and to offer our prayers unto him. But doing so alone will hardly stretch one’s faith or help produce the fruit of love.

As we may have realised by now, the heavy lifting takes place in the gym of our daily lives. Through the way we treat others, respond to challenging situations and seek to honour God, etc.

Thanks be to God, whenever we feel our “spiritual muscles” aching, we know that it was God who gave us strength to train for godliness. More importantly, we can always depend on Jesus. He is more than just our “personal trainer”. He is the one who made it possible for us to finish the race to the praise of his name (Hebrews 12:1-2).