Do You Even Lift?

We've all seen 'em. They're those people that walk into the gym, hair perfectly secured and styled, sporting the latest Nike Frees and latest designer gym wear. They have more of a fake tan than they have muscles and their gym membership is more of an accessory than it actually is a tool for fitness. They're the ones that hit the tredmill till they break a sweat, take a few selfies, and call it a day. Sometimes they might pick up a 5 pound dumbell, but when it comes down to it they're all show. They haven't built up the stamina or the strength to go the mile or curl anything more than the weight of their Starbucks coffee. They have a gym membership, but when it comes to lifting, they're pretty much useless. 

Now, I'm not hating on cardio. I'm not even hating on Starbuks coffee or fake tans. I actually am a fan of all of them. See, I don't have an issue with any of those things. Where my issue comes up is when it becomes an image that tricks others, and even themselves, into thinking they're fit when the truth is my dog probably has more muscle. 

Those were the people I bagged on. Those were even sometimes the people I resented. They looked so good. When  I leave the gym, my hair is usually going 97 different directions, I'm panting like an old dog, and I probably smell bad enough to kill the flowers surrounding the gym on the way back out to my car...(okay, just kidding about that last part). But it wasn't much longer after bagging on those people that Jesus showed me that I had become one of them. No, not in the gym sense, but in a much more important sense.

Allow me to go where, to my knowledge, nobody has been crazy enough to go yet. Allow me to compare my walk with Christ to a gym membership. Because I have surrendered to Jesus, I have been granted access to the Kingdom (or, in this case, my gym membership has been activated). I go to the gym as often as I please. I praise Jesus and walk in faith until I break a sweat- until it becomes a little uncomfortable, and then I call it a day. Sure, I look good going in and even good coming out. And as far as everyone there is concerned, I put in a little work. But what's the point? What's the point of going to the gym if you're not lifting weights? What's the point of going to the gym if you're not building muscle, growing? See, if I go to the gym every other day for 2 weeks and curl 15lb weights, I can guarantee you that by the next time I go to the gym, I'll have built up enough muscle to start curling 20lb weights. And if I stay consistent with that, the same way I did with the 15's, soon enough I'll be curling 25's, and 45's, and so forth. Your muscles remember what it's like to lift that weight and the more you do it, the easier it becomes to lift heavier weights. 

Well, I'm sure you guessed where I'm going with that. But it's the same way with our walk with God. We are constantly tempted with things, but because we live as "cardio Christians", only raising our heartbeat and working until we break a sweat, we never learn what it's like to lift real weights. And when real temptation comes, when the heavy weights need to be lifted, we don't know how. Our muscles haven't built up enough strength to lift them, and we're left feeling weak and defeated. But that's not what God wants. That's why he sent the Holy Spirit, who in this analogy, acts as our personal trainer. He's constantly there, encouraging us, cheering us on, spotting us. He's advising us when it's time to lift and when it's time to rest. He's reminding us when to take a break to get filled with water (the Living Water, that is), and He's making sure we develop our muscles so that when the heavy things come at us, we've already lifted it. 

That's what it's like every time we respond to temptation. We have the opportunity to either take a gym selfie and bail, or we have the opportunity to start lifting weights. We have the opportunity to start building up muscle and gaining stamina. This is how we get strong against the devil, this is how we rip the authority out of the hands of an already defeated devil. We learn to lift little, and the more we lift the little, the more our strength increases; the more weight we can lift increases. Every time we're tempted, we have the opportunity to pick up a weight. We have the opportunity to lift, even though it might be hard, and keep lifting that weight until it becomes easier. But don't worry, it'll never be too much. The Holy Spirit, your personal trainer, will never let you pick up a weight that you can't lift, that you can't handle. He's training us, guiding us, and teaching us how to become strong. He's developing our muscles through consistency, practice, and repetition. And through that, we gain strength. Soon, the temptations that used to make sweat pour down our backs is making us sigh with relief that that's all we have to lift. Soon, we're looking at temptations we used to freak out at like they're a rubber band and we're looking towards the heavy weights saying "bring it on, I can do all things through Christ." (Phil 4:13)

Even though I said "we" throughout this blog, this blog was definitely for me. I've been battling temptation and giving in, but Jesus is teaching me how to lift. He's showing me that the more I say no to temptation, the more that I lift those weights, the easier it becomes. Every "no" to the devil is a "yes" to the Father, and every rejection of sin is a projection of Jesus. Every time I say no to temptation, every time I offer my obedience as a gift to Jesus, it makes me stronger. So I'm going on with Jesus. I'm lifting the weights that are heavy now, but with confident hope and expectation that my endurance is being built, as well as my strength. Tomorrow, it won't be so hard. Because I'll remember the strength that I had to lift the weights today. 

So, are you in? Let's get spiritually swole. Don't wait, start lifting today.
#gymselfie

"..And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure." -1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT

"If you are faithful in the little things, you will be faithful in the large ones..." -Luke 16:10 NLT

"This High Priest of ours understands our weakness, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin." - Hebrews 4:15 NLT

"For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing." -James 1:3-4 NLT

"For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him." -Philippians 2:13 NLT