Holy Sweat/Wholly Surrender

How do I grow?

How does exercise fit into your life? If you are an athlete, the discipline of regular exercise is an essential part of your life. Building muscles and developing endurance are key ingredients to athletic success. Swimmers and distance runners must have endurance. Tennis players must develop their strength and coordination.

It is natural to believe that training is essential for success in sports. But have you thought about how the same is true in our spiritual growth? 1 Timothy 4 tells us to “train yourself to be godly.” We must “work out” for our spiritual muscles to grow.

One of the main ways to exercise your faith muscles is to spend time in the Bible. In the book "Redeeming Love," it says, “I am dying of thirst by the side of a fountain.” In other words, we have access to spiritual nourishment, but we often neglect to use it.

With exercise, there may be some days you do not feel like working out, but you show up anyway. The same is true in reading the Bible. Some days you feel it more than others, but regardless, you show up. The Bible is a love story of what Jesus did for us, and it’s the primary way God reveals Himself to us. To get to know God, we must read the Bible.

Training is one part of how we exercise our faith. The apostle Paul talked about another aspect in the book of Colossians. He said, “For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.” In other words, Paul works hard, but he also depends on the Holy Spirit. Both are essential for growth.

Who is the Holy Spirit? He is the active presence of God in the world. He counsels, teaches, guides, reminds, and energizes us in our faith. Jesus says something astonishing in John 14. He says that it would be better for them if He left earth and returned to heaven. What could be better than Jesus' physical presence? The answer is the Holy Spirit. Why? Because the Holy Spirit lives inside of us.

Living in our flesh is our natural, default setting. Because of this, we need to surrender to the Holy Spirit by asking Him to take control. We can pray, “God I give you permission to change my thinking.” We may not always feel the Holy Spirit working, but we take God at hHis word and trust Him.

Using athletic terms, it is "sweat and surrender" at the same time.

Suggested Prayer Ideas:

• Pray for Christian athletes to surrender to the Holy Spirit in all areas of their life as well as, in their sport.
• Pray for training in godliness to have even higher value than physical training.

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