The Tools To Live
Training Your Mind and Body To Grow With God.
Introduction
In the last letter I sent out to you, I touched on the issues people face when growth is the goal without God being the root. In this letter I will touch on the importance of growth being the goal if God is the root. As a matter of fact, God isn’t just the source behind true personal growth, he is the goal of true personal growth. Over the years I have seen people of faith neglect the tools given to them by the creator that were designed to help in their holistic personal growth. I believe this is due to a misconstrued understanding of the nature and character of our creator. This misunderstanding views God as someone who simply grants wishes as opposed to an eternal being who provided us with the tools to live. If you view God in such a way then you are still using him as a tool to serve the root of self. Ironically, it seems that even non-believers benefit from the created tools of personal growth even though they live to worship their personal desires and glorify themselves. One thing that you must know is that the God of this universe gives sunlight to all, not just those that worship and acknowledge him (Matthew 5:45).
The Tools are to Get to God.
The tool box of your personal growth includes the physical and mental practices that help you to improve. The root of self tells you that these tools were designed to serve you but the root of God (Biblical principles) tells you that these tools were designed to get you closer to God. For example, fasting is a principle that is beneficial to all but it also becomes dangerous once God is no longer the root beneath the branch of fasting. The first time I ever fasted was not to get closer to God. It was to enjoy the physical benefits that it brought such as:
Improved blood sugar control by reducing insulin resistance.
Reduced inflammation.
Boosted brain function.
Vitality for growth, weight loss and muscle strength.
I learnt these principles from scientists, nutritionists, and personal development coaches and not necessarily from the Church. But what I did learn from the Church was that the Old Testament prophet Daniel fasted from “the King’s foods that would defile him” in being obedient to God (Daniel 1:8). Daniel and his friends later went on to become healthier and more nourished than those who continued to eat the king’s food (Daniel 1:15). There were two things in particular that stood out to me:
Daniel’s goal wasn’t physical health, strength and nourishment. Daniels goal was God.
Physical health, strength and nourishment came to Daniel as a result of living for God as opposed to his fleshly desires.
It became apparent to me that the world we live in today promotes and encourages these godly principles such as discipline, productivity, fitness and mindfulness without recognising God as the root of it all. What is even more ironic is the fact that many of you who are believers in God don’t recognise the importance of these tools which results in a life of stagnation. You were called to grow and you were called to improve yourself but stagnation comes as a result of diminishing the value of these tools. The development of your mind and the development of your body are paramount to fulfilling destiny.
Tools For The Body.
I remember meeting a young man in church not too long ago and he said this to me:
“Playing sports and going to the gym is pointless because my priority is to live a spirit-led life.”
As much as his intentions were sincere, I had to disagree. Physical activity is just one of many tools that contribute to your personal growth; even spiritually! A spirit led lifestyle cannot neglect the body. Your body is the vessel in which the processing unit of your purpose dwells. The spirit within you is the very processing unit that I am making reference to. Therefore you must understand the relevance your body has to play when it comes to living a purpose driven life. You cannot afford to kill your body while you expect to live out your purpose. Killing your body simply means treating it in a way that shortens its lifespan. The Bible states:
You have decided the length of our lives. You know how many months we will live, and we are not given a minute longer (Job 14:5).
I look at this verse and understand that we cannot increase the lifespan of our destiny but we can definitely shorten it through neglect. The spirit cannot dwell within a deteriorated body. Once your body is deteriorated your body is dead which in turn shortens the functionality of your spirit on this side of eternity. The Bible makes it clear that a spiritually fit life also encompasses a physically fit life. Therefore training your body and disciplining your body must go hand in hand with living a lifestyle that honours God.
In biblical times, a physically disciplined body wasn’t just for the athletes. Manual labour made physical discipline an evident reality for all facets of society. But for many of you in the 21st century, your work no longer requires your physicality which is why it takes intentionality to maintain the bodily functions of your intended design. You are not doing this with the ignorance of serving yourself simply because of all the amazing benefits it brings. But you are doing this with the knowledge of the purpose of your bodily design and as a result, you still reap the same benefits. Those who wither as a result of poor health habits, need to realise that the spiritual destiny that they hold onto so dearly can become compromised by a neglected body.
If It’s Important To God, it’s Important To Your Purpose.
I always wondered why God used physical health as an avenue to reveal himself to me. Over the last few years I have wondered why he has instructed me to use the tools of my health and wellness for his glory. This looks like making it a priority to stay fit and healthy without neglecting my body. This also looks like treating my mind with care by prioritising my quiet time with God. Taking walks in nature or waking up early to sit with him in stillness became pivotal practices that kept me mentally healthy. This isn’t easy for me because I love my food and sometimes I desire to stay in bed all day. But God revealed these practices as important to him, so they became important to me, and now it is my job to communicate why it’s important to you. I have recently come to understand two outcomes that he desires from it all:
God wants to reveal himself as the true source of health, wellness and productivity to the world. As these tools are becoming increasingly popular, the appreciation for the source behind them is declining. I remember praying for my health to be restored and in that same week I got a call from someone telling me the importance of having magnesium in my diet to help my breathing. I could have seen this as the brilliance of man and the insignificance of God. But instead I was enlightened to the brilliance of a God who created a healing mineral that was revealed to me through an answered prayer. The question I pose to the world is this… If you don’t eat, drink, workout, fast or learn to the glory of God then who are you truly glorifying when you do these things?
God wants those who sincerely and earnestly seek him to make use of the very tools he created. There is a temptation for people who sincerely seek God to diminish the importance of the God given growth tools that are available to them. Just because these things have been hijacked for worldly worship doesn’t always mean you should stay away. What you need to do is recognise its secular popularity as a counterfeit to the Godly principles that were designed to help everyone.
Final Thoughts
Physical discipline, clean eating and training your mind are things that we should all engage in consistently. They were designed for our good, for our growth, and most importantly for our relationship with God. Paul states:
“I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.”
1 Corinthians 9:27 NLT
This brings me to conclude; you cannot fulfil your destiny without training the tools designed by God for eternal purposes. This includes your mind and your body. I hope this encourages you to press on and ask God for the grace to be a better steward over the tools of growth that are available to you.
Have a great day!
This is the truth ! The tools of spirit, soul and body are to the end that we see Him. It is true. God desires that we we prosper in health and many of the hiccups that I have experienced in my walk with God when investigated is as a result of my neglect of an aspect of my whole make up. I shall love the lord with all my heart, strength, and might emanates from the practices of to keep my heart, strength and might in check. For real, I get it. Nothing is a miss, absolutely nothing our body tells us is a miss especially for the believer because we now live, move and have our being in him. Thank you for delivering this message, wow!
If there’s one thing I needed to hear today it was that the tools are meant to lead me to God! That’s a perspective shift that will take a moment to digest.
It did leave me wondering if the tools are evidence of my pursuit of God ? Like in Hansel and Gretel the bread crumbs were meant to show them where they were coming from.
is it that engaging in whatever, be it fitness or fasting is meant to help me recognize and be aware of my interaction with God? Because after reading the letter I prayed this prayer “how can I not lose sight of you in pursuit of these things?” But it seemed more proper to ask “how can the pursuit of you be the Centre of my engaging in these things?”