Why is it painful to get in shape physically? During our recent transition, I did little to stay in shape except walk a lot. There really aren’t major challenges to my getting back in shape, other than I don’t enjoy it. It isn’t like I hate it, I just don’t like it, especially since I have gone almost six months without consistent conditioning. When I am in good physical condition, I like running, bicycling, or lifting to stay in shape. But it is just the pain, literally, of getting back in shape, which is the challenge for me.
I am at a stage in life where physical conditioning is critical. I am building my resilience and strength again, so I must stay focused for weeks and months to ensure I can get back into good condition. I have found that the older one gets, the more difficult it becomes. However, it is not impossible. I have been running/walking for several months now, and it doesn’t seem to be getting much easier. This is why it is a critical time for me—it would be easy to give up.
Isn’t this a lot like spiritual health? I must continue to spiritually exercise to keep growing in this area. I must continue to stretch and be challenged to grow spiritually. This season of transition and isolation has been a fitting time for me to grow spiritually.
As I look back over my life, the times I experienced significant spiritual growth were times of great challenge. Most of these times included:
- lack of direction,
- loss of relationships or
- little impact
We must be willing to adapt or change our behavior during seasons of the three Ls for maturity to result. I fully appreciate that it is often during these periods that we are not motivated to grow. We feel like pulling into our shells, nursing our feelings of lethargy, discouragement, and isolation. But as we withdraw and nurse these feelings, we become more and more self-absorbed and self-indulgent, which only causes us to drift further from our intimacy with God. Just as if I stop working out and sit on the couch eating snacks will cause me to become in worse shape.
These three Ls clearly present a good environment for growth, but growth results from staying close to God during these times. In other words, growth isn’t a natural consequence of difficult times. There are certain ways we need to process difficult times to grow, and like my resistance to physical growth (pain), there are also resistances to spiritual growth. Let me suggest that spiritual pain is felt in three ways: transparency, humility, and teachability. It seems like all three are a struggle for me and must be overcome consistently for growth to occur.
Transparency is where it begins. It is difficult to admit where we are and why we are there. Transparency is necessary because if we won’t admit where we are, we will never be able to grow. Physically, I have to admit that I am fat and out of shape before I will see the need for change. The same is true spiritually, only I know where my heart is when no one is watching, and only I know my deep desires. Denial is a powerful force that keeps us from being honest with ourselves and others. I must first be very, very honest about where I am spiritually and acknowledge it openly. It can be a trusted friend; for me, it starts with my journal.
However, once we are transparent concerning where we are, there must then be humility. Spiritual maturity is rooted in humility. Every person in whom I sense spiritual depth is humble. Humility is different from transparency; it is coming to the point of believing we can’t change on our own. For spiritual change to take place, there must be a divine force behind it. This is where grace, forgiveness, and redemption have their transformational power. As I trust in the Spirit, I find it isn’t just a self-improvement plan but a divine work in me that brings spiritual health. Too many people would rather spiritual growth be a self-improvement plan than a Spirit humbling plan. This process is initiated by God’s Spirit working inside of us, which leads us to admit we can’t do it on our own. This is one reason why times of struggle are great opportunities for growth. In humility, I must continually seek the Spirit to empower me through maturing. This keeps us in a posture of humility.
And lastly, there must be teachability. This involves taking the necessary steps to engage in spiritual practices that lead to health. The practices may vary for each of us but surely include such exercises as reflection, meditation, study of God’s Word, prayer, and the like. It is great to be transparent and even admit we need God’s power to work within us, but if we never actually apply what we are learning in our daily living, we become hypocrites. I get in condition physically by consistently repeating the exercises during the pain. I don’t accept any excuses; I just do it. When I fail to see immediate results, I continue until I do. The same is with spiritual exercises; I endure despite not wanting to be transparent, humble, or teachable. I set up accountability partners, alarms, or whatever it takes to make these practices a part of my daily life.
We all want physical and spiritual resiliency; however, it starts with transparency and humility, then teachability. Starting without transparency and humility would be like going to an addiction recovery meeting without hitting the bottom. All recovery programs know this leads to short-term behavioral change without long-term life transformation. You can’t go to a recovery meeting without hearing a lot of transparency and humility. Unfortunately, many churches today begin with teachability. They tell you the behavioral steps you need to change, rather than first helping people with transparency and humility. Let me suggest that this is why we seldom see long-term life transformation taking place in churches today. Just look at some of our leaders.
I believe this is why the apostle Paul reminds his protégé that he was the worst of all sinners. (1 Timothy 1:15-16). We all are. Let’s not be afraid to start there and move to being teachable.
Leave a Reply