Wellbeing: An Invitation to a Flourishing LifeSample

Fitness is Medicine

What if your doctor could prescribe one medicine that reduced your blood pressure and cholesterol, improved your sleep and mood, decreased stress and depression, improved the health of your bones and heart, reduced the risk of cancer and diabetes, and helped to keep your weight from creeping up and up? Most of us would be smiling all the way to the pharmacy. Well, the medicine is exercise, and no prescription is needed.

It’s not easy carving out time to exercise, nor is it easy to endure the pain required to develop muscular and cardiovascular strength. As humans, we always seem to want the benefits without doing the work needed to attain them, we want the magic pill. However, the simplest form of this medicine is to move more and sit less.

Looking after our bodies isn’t about being the most attractive. In fact, when that becomes the goal, we often can end up torturing our bodies rather than caring for them. If you’ve ever borrowed an expensive car beloved by the owner, you’ll know just how much care you’ll put in to make sure you return it to them in peak working condition.

First Corinthians 6:19-20 tells us that the truth is we, too, were bought with a price. Our bodies are not our own, and there is no greater love than God's love for us. Caring for our bodies is not just about loving ourselves; it’s about loving God! Our bodies are the temple for the Holy Spirit to dwell in, it honours Him when we look after ourselves.

Thought Point: What kind of exercise is fun for you, and do you enjoy it? If you don’t exercise, how can you make the idea of exercise more appealing?

Prayer Point: Ask God for the wisdom, motivation, and ability to exercise and experience the many benefits of doing so.