Faith-N-Fitness

Today's student guest post is by Isaac "Tree" Russell. He is in his second year of the MDiv program. Tree is the Youth Pastor at Aylesford Baptist Church. He currently lives in Wolfville, NS. He also wrote a post on Creative Study Habits.

Hey y’all, Erin asked me to share about my faith as well as linking it with my interest in fitness. I think there are a lot of connections and commonalities between the two.

Starting with faith, it's interesting to note how having a “belief” in some sort of spiritual perspective can be positive, for a number of reasons. I would suggest Christianity is the way, truth, and the life. It’s a growing
faith in third-world countries, so it implies it is not based on finances and such. Also, it’s a transformed lifestyle where we have everything to gain; we get to spend eternity with our creator. The One who made us. That’s really neat!

With respect to fitness, this can be a troubling for some. Why? Because it takes dedication and sacrifice (much like our faith). The first step is setting a goal (gain, lose, or maintain weight). My personal goal has always been to be able to bench and squat my body weight (195lbs). That took a lot of time, perseverance, and accountability to build up too. Start with small goals and work your way up.

Marathons aren’t won without practice. Walking is one of the best ways to lose or firm up our bodies. It’s free and can be done anywhere. The ideal is 30 minutes daily. A solid way to break that up is 15 minutes in the morning before work/school and then the final 15 in the eve. We feel a lot better about ourselves and have more energy to do other tasks when we’re in better shape. Believe it or not, we have a better chance of living longer when we are healthier too.

Diet is an important part of fitness as well. This isn’t always cutting out foods, but it can be adding certain food groups. Personally, I'm trying to weigh 235lbs, but I want it to be the right type of weight. You can be creative, have a strict diet during the week, then have a cheat day where you reward yourself. Also, it is a cool way to try out new recipes!

However, there is a danger to this. Our bodies can become our “god” instead of worshiping our one true God. Pride is a killer; when we start to compare ourselves to others in a judging way, that doesn’t sit well with Jesus. Our focus should be to honor God with our bodies and want to preserve them. Think of it like a car, you keep it on the road through the right maintenance and upkeep, right? The same goes with our walk with Jesus: we study the word, live a life of worship, honor Jesus, love others, and respect our bodies. Life is too short not to have fun and push our bodies to see where the Lord will lead us.

Wishing y’all a blessed eve. I’m also excited to hear about your own faith-n-fitness setup. Have a great rest of the semester.

God bless,
Tree.