Training Our Soul

Train yourself in godliness.

1 Timothy 4:7

If the gym is the training ground for physical discipline, then perhaps we can learn something from it about training our soul. The word translated discipline in the Bible actually comes from the Greek gymnaze, meaning to train or discipline. From it we get the word gymnasium. The apostle Paul, a spiritual gym rat if ever there was one, instructed Timothy to, "Train yourself in godliness" 1 Timothy 4:7.

How do we work up a good soul sweat?

We first have to deal with the heart of the matter.

Cardiovascular training is the first vital aspect of a physical workout. Keeping the heart strong enables the vitality of the other organs and gives strength and energy to work the rest of the body.

Spiritual health is not about how we look religiously, but about how freely and powerfully we allow God to flow through us. God, by the indwelling Holy Spirit, cannot flow through us into the world if our heart is clogged with spiritual plaque.

To get our heart in good condition we need to examine the heart of God in contrast to our own—we need to know the heart of God. We must learn about the heart of God in order to understand how to change our own heart.

And how do we know when a change is taking place?

Try taking the spiritual "treadmill test" for the heart is the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22).

Our purpose in exercising our soul is not to feel better about ourselves, but our purpose is to become stronger, more fit, and conditioned to go into the world and do the work God is calling us to and preparing us for.