Why Should Christians Be Motivated to Exercise?

Glorify, Enjoy, Work for Others

On one hand, the primary motivation to exercise can be a really simple question. The primary motivation in all of life—in exercise and in everything you do—is to do all for the glory of God. And yet there are some important complexities we can add to that as well.

When you ask the question, How do I glorify God? a vital answer is through enjoying God. So one aspect of motivation I want to join in with exercise is the Christian’s pursuit of joy in God. When we enjoy him, he’s glorified; he looks good.

On the one hand, the simple answer is you want to make God look good in your bodily life, not yourself. Make God look good. Jesus said in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good deeds and give glory to your Father in heaven.” Others see your body, they hear your words, and they don’t give glory to you, but to your Father in heaven.

So that’s a vital aspect of what we do with our bodies. We want others to glorify our Father. And we do that by pursuing our joy in him, which glorifies him. And when we’re satisfied in him, we’re more primed and ready to see and attempt to meet the needs of others. Those are the good deeds that we do in our bodies.

So in one sense, there’s maybe a threefold cord here to that one simple answer. One is the godward answer of wanting him to be honored. We want him to look good in our lives.

We want to use these bodies in such a way that our minds and hearts work to enjoy God for who he is.

And then secondarily, we want to seek our joy in him. We want to use these bodies in such a way that our minds work and hearts work to enjoy God for who he is. He’s honored through our joy in him.

And then third, there’s an others motivation, so to speak. We want to be motivated by doing good—not looking good ourselves, but doing good for others.

So I would want to draw in God, your own soul in happiness, and the good of others into that question of motivation for bodily training.

David Mathis is the author of A Little Theology of Exercise: Enjoying Christ in Body and Soul.

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