How Much Use Is Physical Training?

15 Jun

There’s a strange idea that sometimes sneaks into Christian thinking without us even noticing. It’s the idea that the “real you” is your soul, while your body is basically just temporary packaging. A sort of fleshy Uber that carries your spirit around until heaven.

The problem is: that isn’t biblical Christianity.

The Bible doesn’t treat the body as a disposable shell. God created human beings as embodied creatures — spirit, soul, and body. In Genesis, God forms Adam from the dust of the ground and breathes life into him. Humanity is not souls trapped in meat suits. We are embodied image-bearers.

And when God stepped into creation to save us, He didn’t arrive as a floating spirit orb. Jesus came in the flesh. He ate meals, and you’re unlikely to ever hear a sermon on it, but given he had a digestive system, that means he will have burped and farted too! He walked dusty roads, got tired and sweated. He Bled, he Died. He rose bodily from the grave, the tiny muscles in his pupils dilating as he stepped into the sunlight after 3 days of darkness. Even after the resurrection, He still had scar tissue around his wounds.

Christ & Christianity is deeply physical.

More Than “Just Spiritual”

Which is why I think Christians sometimes need to rethink the way we talk about health, exercise, food, rest, and caring for our bodies.

Now before anyone panics, this is not a blog post about getting “jacked” for Jesus.

I’m not interested in body shaming anyone. I’m not suggesting every Christian needs visible abs, a gym membership, and a fridge full of chicken breast and broccoli that tastes like damp cardboard. I’m also very aware that health is complex. Some people live with chronic illness, disability, injury, medication side effects, mental health struggles, hormonal conditions, or seasons of life that make physical health harder to manage.

So hear me when I say, this post is not about appearance.

It’s about stewardship.

The same God who calls us to steward our finances, relationships, gifts, time, sexuality, and spiritual lives also gave us bodies to steward.

Paul writes in his First letter to the Corinthians chapter 6 that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. That passage is primarily about sexual holiness, but the principle still matters: your body matters to God.

“Physical Training Is of Some Value”

Which is why I’ve always found it slightly ironic when Christians dismiss physical health using 1 Timothy 4:8:

“For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things…”

Years ago, before entering ministry, I retrained and worked as a personal trainer. More than once I had an overweight or deeply unhealthy Christian grin at me and quote that verse as though Paul was saying exercise is spiritually irrelevant, often while holding something beige from Greggs.

But Paul doesn’t say physical training has no value.

He says it has some value.

That is still a positive statement.

The comparison isn’t between “worthless” and “important.” It’s between “important” and “even more important.”

Godliness matters more than fitness. Of course it does. Thick arms cannot save your soul. Burpees do not sanctify you. Deadlifts cannot produce the fruit of the Spirit, although they can produce noises that sound fairly demonic if the weight is heavy enough.

But the second half of the verse does not invalidate the first half.

Physical health still matters.

Exercise matters.

Sleep matters.

Nutrition matters.

Rest matters.

Stress management matters.

Our bodies aren’t obstacles to spiritual life. They are part of how we live spiritual life.

Honestly, a lot of Christians would benefit enormously from realising that the “spiritual warfare” they are experiencing might occasionally be sleep deprivation, zero movement, chronic stress, doom scrolling and living exclusively on red bull and oven chips.

I say that with love, and from unfortunate personal experience. I made myself borderline narcoleptic during my uni years, when I would drink about 2 litres of tescos redbull knock off every day, and eat like I was a guest at a 5 year olds birthday party.

Stewardship, Not Vanity

I exercise a lot now, partly because I genuinely enjoy it, partly because it helps my mental health and stress levels massively, and foundationally because I want to honour God by caring for the body He has given me.

Exercise has become one of the ways I remain emotionally healthy, mentally clearer, and physically able to serve people well. It helps me pastor better. Think better. Sleep better. Handle pressure better. It gives me energy for ministry, family life, church life, and everyday responsibilities.

And that matters.

Because if we constantly neglect our physical wellbeing, eventually it affects everything else too.

In Kings 19, Elijah is exhausted, emotionally crushed, fearful, and overwhelmed. God’s first response is not a three-hour sermon on perseverance. He feeds him and lets him sleep.

Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is take a nap, drink some water, go outside, and stop pretending your body doesn’t exist.

Of course, we need balance here.

Fitness can absolutely become an idol. There are a whole group of social media influencers who make a living off it. Modern culture worships appearance, youth, aesthetics, optimisation, and self-image. You can become just as spiritually unhealthy obsessing over your body as neglecting it. Some people treat the gym like a religion and protein powder like a sacrament, and plastic surgeons like gods.

That’s not the goal either.

The Christian vision is not vanity. It’s stewardship.

Not worshipping the body.
Not neglecting the body.
But honouring God with the body.

Resurrection Changes Everything

There’s also something profoundly hopeful in Christianity’s view of the body. Scripture does not end with us escaping physical existence forever. It ends with resurrection. New creation. Renewed bodies. Heaven and earth joined together under Christ.

God’s eternal plan is not disembodied floating. It is redeemed embodied life.

Which means your body is not an embarrassing inconvenience attached to the “real” you, or the meat suit that carries your soul until God calls you to play harp in the clouds. It is part of who you are and part of what God intends to redeem.

So yes — pray.
Read Scripture.
Pursue holiness.
Fight sin.
Grow in godliness.

But maybe also go for a walk.

Lift some weights. Eat some vegetables occasionally. Sleep properly. Stretch your legs. Manage stress. Look after your heart. Drink less liquid sugar masquerading as “energy”.

Not because your value depends on your physique.

Not because God loves healthy people more.

Or because Christians should all look like fitness influencers carrying Bibles and kettlebells through wheat fields at sunrise.

But because your body matters to God.

And if Scripture says physical training is “of some value,” maybe we should stop acting like that means no value at all.