Busyness.

Fatigue.

Negligence.

Each of these serves as a reason most pastors do not make physical fitness part of their normal day. In our vocation, there seems to be a major disconnect among us regarding the importance of our physical condition.

Have you ever considered that you are unable to go where your body and health cannot take you?

It is not my intention to create guilt, but rather motivation. I’m not trying to heap added pressure upon your life along with what you already deal with daily.

I simply want to encourage you to take action to care for your physical health. Perhaps you have never considered this, but did you know that there should be a connection between your walk with Christ and a regular practice of physical fitness and conditioning? I have believed this for years and have forwarded it continually in my newest book, Living Fit.

As your spiritual life goes, so goes the rest of your life.

A Personal Story

In my younger years, I was neglectful of my physical condition. I was going to school, not sleeping much, working long hours, and parenting young children. Physical fitness was just not a priority. Sadly, eating was a major priority. Eating is the accepted vice of most ministers. Therefore, when these combined, at one point in my earliest ministry, I blew up to 207 pounds.

One day, it all changed. I began a major commitment to my physical condition. I started walking daily.

Years later, I began running and working out with weights. I was a sprinter in high school, not a distance runner, so running never appealed to me. However, for probably over thirty years now, I have become a consistent runner. Well…not a true runner, more of a jogger. I don’t go fast, but I do go far and long. Anyone who has ever gone running with me knows I will probably not outpace them, but I may outlast them.

Presently, I run an hour or so a day, three to four days a week. Additionally, I work out on a Pelaton bike with trainers online and on demand, two to three days a week. This commitment is very important in my life. Even on Sunday mornings, I jog on the treadmill for an hour. While on the treadmill, I go over my message for the day, working through mastering it before delivering it publicly.

I am convinced that I could not do what I do – with my workload and life’s pressure – without this strong commitment to running, biking, and conditioning. Caring for my body is very important, not only for the quality of my health, but the management of my responsibilities.

If you have read previously concerning my morning schedule, you will see that I exercise in the morning. Delayed exercise and fitness usually results in no exercise and fitness. That is why I do it in the mornings.

As I have stated in Living Fit, I cannot determine how long I live, but I can determine how well I live. Every day is a gift from God. I need to treat it as such and take the needed time for physical fitness so I can be in the best position to take my best shot for God daily.

2 Reasons I Believe in Exercise and Fitness

Let me share some reasons why I believe in exercise and fitness in my life.

Perhaps this will motivate and encourage you.

1. Taking care of your body is Biblical

Yes, I know what the Scripture says in 1 Timothy 4:8, “For the training of the body has limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way….”

Without question, spiritual fitness is much more important than physical fitness; however, they need to be friends and companions, not enemies and competitors. Life is about priorities. I promise you, my #1 priority is my personal walk and devotion to Jesus Christ. Yet, this does not keep me from caring for my body.

The Scripture also says in 1 Corinthians 6:19, “Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own.”

Therefore, if God lives in us, then we need to take care of our bodies, which is the temple and dwelling place of God in our lives. We are body, soul, and spirit, according to the Bible. Therefore, taking care of your body is Biblical.

2. Exercising your body is your spiritual service to God

Surely you have quoted or spoken from Colossians 3:17 in your teaching ministry. It says, “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

Therefore, offer even your exercise and fitness as a spiritual service to God, bringing Him glory as you do so. While most of the time it is not fun, it is necessary to improve your health and the conditioning of your body. In turn, it will be an asset to the quality of your life and service to God.

4 Benefits of Exercise and Fitness

Let me give you these things for consideration.

Benefit #1: Exercise and fitness increase the probability of my body being in better shape, which in turn should give me a much greater ability to serve the Lord now and longer in life.

Benefit #2: Exercise and fitness provide me with opportunities to grow in my personal faith, as I use this time daily to have others pour into my life.

Technology permits me to listen to others teach, preach, and mentor me on matters of life, ministry, and leadership while I exercise. Therefore, this is not just futile physical exercise to me, but more deeply and importantly, moments to practice and grow in godliness. I cannot even begin to tell you how much I have grown the last few years by adding this practice to my exercise and fitness.

Benefit #3: Exercise and fitness greatly reduce my stress level.

I am convinced that daily exercise and fitness helps me view life in a more positive manner because I am reducing stress. Personally, I exercise five to six days a week. I need it physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Benefit #4: Exercise and fitness improve my attitude.

Pastors deal with negativity daily. People pour their stuff upon us and when we manage it personally and do not take it to God in prayer, it affects our attitude negatively. Therefore, I promise you, exercise and fitness improve your attitude.

Final Challenges

Pastor, here are my final challenges to you about exercise and fitness:

Start now – do something.
Get it done in the morning.
Be consistent five days a week.

John Wesley stated at age 78, “By God’s blessing, I’m the same I was at 28, chiefly by constant exercise and preaching morning and evening.”

That’s tremendously encouraging to me, and I hope to you as well.

Now is the Time to Lead.

Why is it important to exercise and stay healthy?

Because the Bible says so! In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 the Bible says: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” God calls us to honor Him with our bodies. So, it is important to stay healthy and live a healthy lifestyle. One way to do that is to exercise regularly. Aaptiv is a mobile app that will help you achieve your fitness goals and stay healthy on your own timeline!

Get a FREE Trial of Aaptiv and Start Your Healthy Lifestyle Today!

While everyone knows it’s important to exercise regularly, most people aren’t aware that the benefits of regular exercise can be totally life changing!

Here are 5 simple benefits of regular exercise:

1) People who make time for exercise regularly have lower blood pressure, a lower resting heart rate, and healthier cholesterol levels than those who don’t.

2) Exercise makes you happy and the research shows it. Your brain runs on a chemical cocktail and when you work out, all the chemicals that make you feel good are released.

3) You’ll get sick less often. No one ever realizes how miserable the common cold can be until they get it. Then they think it’s the end of the world. Thankfully, exercise makes you much more resilient to bacteria and viruses, so you can spend your sick days on the beach instead of in bed.

4) Stay younger for longer. Imagine living out your golden years and not being able to lift a carton of milk. Sounds scary, right? Well, working out slows physical deterioration to keep your body mentally and physically sharp.

5) You’ll look better. With better health comes a more attractive form. Everyone wants to look their best.

In fact, you need to make time for at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day of the week, or else after just one week your body goes through some pretty shocking changes. After just seven days of laying on the couch and eating potato chips, you’re already at an increased risk of developing type II diabetes, heart disease, losing muscle mass, and piling on body fat, not to mention an increased risk of dementia and loss of gray matter mass. Scared yet?

While all those things are enough to frighten anyone into the nearest gym immediately, I know it can be hard to maintain motivation and dedication to stay fit in the long game, and there are always going to be weeks where you just won’t be able to find any time at all to get in a proper workout. This is why fitness apps are booming in popularity. Many people are using them to live a healthier lifestyle with their limited time and motivation.

There are so many smartphone apps available that help you become more fit, but Aaptiv in particular caught our attention. This app skyrocketed to the top of Apple’s health and fitness category and grew their subscribers by over 10x since last summer to over 200,000 subscribers.

Whether you need motivation from a trainer for inspiration, or need to find new ways to workout, Aaptiv has the perfect solution.

Aaptiv further sets itself apart from the competition by being the only fitness company that focuses exclusively on audio content. Most fitness companies offer trackers and graphs and text instructions that tell you what to do but do a poor job of really getting you to do it. Aaptiv stands out by giving you actionable, fun workout classes right in your ear.

Aaptiv was formed in 2015 after their founder, Ethan Agarwal, gained some weight on the grind of business school. After graduating, like many studious business grads do, Ethan found himself in a fast-paced, demanding job that required a lot of travel and an unpredictable schedule. Ethan wanted to get back in shape but after evaluating his existing options, he came back empty-handed. Studio fitness classes had strict scheduling and cancelling policies, and Ethan was rarely in the same city long enough for a trainer to make sense for him. Aaptiv was his solution.

Today, Aaptiv has a team of seventy-employees and is growing quickly, bringing us #1 audio-fitness app. Aaptiv offers thousands of trainer-led, music-driven audio fitness workouts so you can work out when you want, where you want, the way you want. Take classes in treadmill, outdoor running, yoga, strength training, and much more.

The best part about Aaptiv is you can work out anywhere. Whether you’re at home or the office, many of Aaptiv’s classes require zero equipment. This makes Aaptiv perfect for anyone on a tight schedule that can’t afford a trip to the gym.

Here’s how it works:

You sign up for Aaptiv here and download the app.

Once that’s done, you’ll have access to all of Aaptiv’s trainer-led classes. Just press the Find a Workout at the top of the app to get started.

Next, Aaptiv’s filter will help you find the perfect workout based on your type, difficulty, and the amount of time you have to dedicate to your workout.

Oh, and you can set to filter by trainer and genre of music too. Did I mention that each Aaptiv class is set to sweet tunes? And it’s not talking elevator music, Aaptiv uses top-tier artists like JT and Jay-Z.

And the experience really is just like have a trainer right next to you. Right in your ear will be a real-life person encouraging you to push on, keep taking deep breaths, and to correct your posture.

While I still think it’s important to go to the gym every now-and-then as a part of your fitness program, I’ve been using Aaptiv almost on a daily basis for the last three months and it has worked wonderfully. I’ve lost ten pounds since I’ve downloaded the app and it’s an amazing feeling to watch my progress. Aaptiv also comes with some great tracking features so you can see how many calories you’ve burned with all your workouts.

You’ll also never gotten bored with Aaptiv’s workouts. There are 15 active trainers who create more than 30 classes new classes every week, so I never run out of a workout to do and can stay motivated. In summary, Aaptiv is a great audio-fitness app that you can use anywhere to help you achieve your goals and one that can’t come more highly recommended!

Get a FREE Trial of Aaptiv and Start Your Healthy Lifestyle Today!

exercise

Why Church Leaders Should Exercise

As your spiritual life goes, so goes the rest of your life.

2 Reasons I Believe in Exercise and Fitness

4 Benefits of Exercise and Fitness

Final Challenges

5 Benefits of Regular Exercise

Why is it important to exercise and stay healthy?

Get a FREE Trial of Aaptiv and Start Your Healthy Lifestyle Today!

Get a FREE Trial of Aaptiv and Start Your Healthy Lifestyle Today!