Bodily Exercise Profits a Little

There is a verse in the Bible which says, ‘For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come’ in 1 Timothy 4:8), It is often understood by Christians to mean that they don’t need to bother with bodily exercise. But Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones had a different point of view. He said, “The ‘little’ means be sure you do it.” Before he died, he convinced the Bible teacher R. T. Kendall that the ‘little’ is important.

I was amazed to hear that R.T. Kendall is now 89 years old, in good health, travelling the world, and the busiest he has ever been in his whole life. Because both spiritual fitness and physical fitness are important to him, he has done push ups and other exercises for over twenty years now. He doesn’t let himself backslide physically, and thinks this is what keeps him on the road. His friend, the evangelist J. John, said he has done the same since being inspired by R.T’s example.

In Ellel Ministries’ Healing Retreats we usually encourage people to make Jesus Lord of their spirit, soul, and body, and every aspect of their life. I know the text for today speaks of glorifying God in our body and spirit in the context of avoiding sexual immorality. However, these verses clearly state that our bodies are not our own. They belong to God.

‘Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s’ (I Corinthians 6:19-20).

So, I think God must care about what we do with our bodies in the wider context of our whole life. I think He cares about what we eat, how much we sleep, how much exercise we get, and whether we take sufficient rest.

Paul writes, ‘Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified’ (I Corinthians 9:24-27).

He is talking about athletes choosing to take physical training seriously and having to control their bodies if they want to win the race. He uses it as an illustration of choosing to discipline his body and bring it into subjection for the sake of winning the spiritual race. He must put practise what he preaches.

‘For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s’ (I Corinthians 6:20).

Perhaps some of us struggle to glorify God in our body by taking exercise, because it requires quite a bit of effort on our part. But it is worth the amount of profit or reward that it results in, even if it is small by comparison to the reward for godliness which is profitable for all things now and in eternity.