Shedding Spiritual Pounds & Building Spiritual Muscles

New year's resolutions are often on the minds of most people beginning every year. While it is exciting to have one, not everyone follows through to achieve their goals. Most people tend to have goals such as achieving a new dream, shedding a few pounds, or try to make healthy choices to improve their well-being. Our setbacks require a reset; our failures do not make us a failure until we settle. If we are willing to do the work and not give up when we fail or slip, our outcome will be much better than the previous years.

What are your spiritual goals this new year? Is it something new or an improvement of previous ones? Whatever the case maybe it is still important to have one as a true follower of Christ. This new year, don't take your spiritual health for granted neither ignore it totally.

Spiritual fitness

In 1 Timothy 4:8, Apostle Paul clearly states that spiritual exercise benefits far outweigh that of the natural. If athletes could win prizes or trophies by putting their bodies under pressure in training, imagine what we could achieve spiritually if we put in the work with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Do you know that it is possible to be lean and fit physically but still be overweight [unhealthy] spiritually? Our physical appearance is not a reflection of our spiritual state neither the abundance of things we possess equates to the quality of our lives. In Revelation 3:17 Jesus spoke to John about the Church in Laodicea, although they seem rich in the natural, spiritually they were wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.

We are as healthy as our spiritual well-being.

Spiritual Obesity

It is important for every believer to regularly get rid of unwanted or excess weights that impede our spiritual growth. We often pick up these unconsciously or when we knowingly indulge in things that do not promote righteousness. These weights or loads makes us sluggish or lazy to pray and study the word of God. It makes us slumber spiritually and quenches our passion for God. It also prevents us to obey or move in the direction of God.

Shedding Pounds

It time for us to take action intentionally to get rid of these unwanted or unhelpful weights. Our healthy spiritual growth depends on it because our spiritual life has a tremendous effect on our everyday life.

Old Habits [Ephesians 4:22]

We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. First of all to break free or let go of our old ways and thoughts we need to submit to God. Surrendering to the Holy Spirit is a sign that we are willing to change and acknowledge that it is only Him that can help us turn away from them. Turning away from old ways has a corresponding action of turning to God. Pray that God set you free and increase His grace in you to conduct yourself in a manner that is worthy of Him.

Lord, I receive the power to break free from any strongholds of the past and to live for you this new year.

Easily Entangle sins [Hebrews 12:1]

The sinful or negative behaviors that easily draw us away from the path of righteousness or tips us over eventually are the "little foxes that spoil the vineyard". It has the ability to set us back in our spiritual growth progress, and from fulfilling God's purpose for our lives. Jesus our best example resisted every temptation and lived to fulfill His calling. It time to ask Him for help to break free from these entanglements. Take authority in His Name to lose yourself from its control and ask for wisdom or discernment to avoid it so that you don't fall prey to them anymore.

Holy Spirit let your fire consume anything that will inhibit my spiritual growth this new year

Bad Companies [1 Corinthians 15:33]

Our human inclination when left unchecked wants to indulge in things that will end up in self-pleasure and gain. It is tempting to keep friends around that feeds, supports, and encourages our unhealthy habits even to the detriment of our healthy spiritual progress. This year make the difficult and important decision to choose people you would spend the most time with. The blind cannot lead the blind, the spiritual lazy cannot be an example to follow, the selfish will not want the best for you and the critics most likely are bankrupt of grace.

Lord help me to discern and keep my distance from anyone whose influence will lead me away from you.

Building Muscles

Getting rid of the bad habits in our life without replacing them with good ones is half the work done. When we choose to stop one thing we must simultaneously begin another as the scriptures admonish us "Don't conform to the patterns of this world but be transformed by the renewing of our mind" with the Word of God. It is time to build lean and strong spiritual muscles; Mount Up With Wings of Eagles, Run and Not Be Weary Walk and not Faint.

The Word of God [Colossians 3:16, Romans 10:17, John 15:5]

There is a popular saying " garbage in garbage out" meaning our inputs determine our outputs in life. The Word is our spiritual food, the more we feed on the more healthy we become spiritually. The Word of God contains spiritual nutrients, helping us grow and become more fruitful. The Word helps us to grow our faith in God, boosting our confidence in His promises.  

We become what we feed on; instead of feeding on too much news, indulging in far-fetched conspiracies, or dwelling on our inadequacies, it is expedient to spend more time meditating on the Word of God.

Prayer and Fasting

Prayer alone is a formidable force that generates tremendous power in God but adding fasting to it creates this duo dynamo with unimaginable explosive properties that can have an endless impact on our lives and the world unseen. It positions a believer to have exclusive access to the deep things of God, enforce great authority over the evil one. It has the ability to cause a shift in the spiritual realm which has a ripple effect on what happens in our lives and in the world.

Renew Strength

Prayer and fasting keeps us connected to the Presence of God allowing His Spirit to work in us to become more like Christ in strength and power. Our strength is renewed in His Presence and we become stronger in our faith in God. The grace found in His Presence helps us to resist, avoid, or overcome sin or negative behaviors so that we can become healthy spiritually.

In our daily communion with God, we become filled with hope and joy, giving us a renewed perspective about life all over again.

Build up Stamina

Tarrying in the Presence of God gives us continuous power to keep believing, trusting, and maintaining our confidence in God. The flow of the grace from His Presence helps to overcome weakness and tiredness that may arise because of the prolonged storms in our lives. It gives us the power to persevere in the face of opposition, persist in the face of all odds, and steadfast in faith to see the salvation of the Lord.

Strim fat and build lean muscles

Prayer and fasting have the ability to help us shed spiritual pounds. The more we linger in the Lord's Presence the strongholds in our lives get broken, our spiritual taste buds get reset and the desire for the things of the world begin to diminish.

The heavy burdens we tend to carry, who knows how long begin to fall off gradually with little notice. The bitterness, anger, and other emotional wounds get healed as we learn to let go and forgive those who have offended us. Our mental and physical health experiences a turnaround, causing the light of God to break forth in our lives.

Intimacy and transformation

We are called to be like Christ and not a better version of ourselves. It is in the midst of growing intimately with God that true transformation takes place. When we stop growing we only become a better version of ourselves and not Christ-like. The more we stay connected or draw closer to God, the more we become changed from who we use to be in Christ previously, this is a life long journey till we leave this world.

Today's challenges require or should be met with today's faith, not yesterday's or the past. Our faith grows with our transformation into Christ-likeness. Tomorrow's challenges will come, will we have the growing faith to overcome them?

It is Christ actively seen in us that causes people to experience God, repent, and give their lives to Him. It is His good works through us that reveal God's caring heart to the world.

May you be empowered by the Holy Spirit to grow and become healthier spiritually this new year.