No, I’m not thinking along the lines of self inflicted flagellation, or meaningless pain…But, if even Jesus our Savior when He lived as a man on earth, “learned obedience from what He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8), what more myself?
As God’s beloved children, our Father God didn’t promise us a bed of roses all the time (Hebrews 12). Part of growing into spiritual maturity includes choosing the right things, the hard things, and not the easiest paths (Romans 8). Growing in spiritual maturity means we have to choose paths that require discipline, that requires facing challenges and oppositions and learning in the midst of these to rely on the sweet grace that God provides in the storm of trials. (It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age. Titus 2:12)
In striving to achieve a commendable goal, planning, and discipline are needed. Health enthusiasts have an interesting way of describing fitness that leads to low body fat and well defined muscles, they call it ‘staying ripped’. I wonder if that urban slang is derived from the process of ripping muscles in the course of bodybuilding. Oftentimes, ripped muscles are sore muscles!!! But, ripped muscles grow in ability to lift greater weight, withstand greater oppositions, and with a smile! Similarly, spiritual disciplines make our spiritual muscles sore, we may shed tears, and we may at some point feel like giving up in persevering in doing what is right in the face of raging fleshly screams to let go and do what you want, instead of what is right. And at times, you actually give up…
But, to attain continued spiritual maturity, you’ve got to exercise those spiritual muscles, you’ve got to stay ripped…
Jesus learned obedience. In other words, it doesn’t come naturally as the ability to blink your eye or breathe. In other words, training is needed. And for some, this may be easier, if you grew up in a loving family, and for some, this may be harder, if you grew up where the authority figures sometimes make no sense, and you learn that they don’t always have your best interest in heart. And you had learned repeatedly to go by what you feel is right.
But, once we’ve tasted the Love of our Abba Father, our lives are no longer the same… The challenges He gives are never meaningless, and He is always there cheering you on! So, let’s forget what’s behind us and strain ahead toward the goal that God has set before us. (Philippians 3:13, 14) ~ Lilian Yap
Note 1: “Ripping is considered a slow and sometimes painful process due to diet and exercise. A bodybuilder will have to sacrifice many of their pleasures in life, in addition to increasing their workout intensity. But the goals in which they wish to achieve are far from easy, and it is known that some bodybuilders may use performance enhancing drugs or anabolic steroids to assist them along the way. There are many types of performance enhancers that can help with the loss of fat and the maintenance of muscle tissue. Of course, it is extremely unlikely that any performance enhancers or steroids will have an effect unless the person taking them is taking part in exercise or a specific diet plan.” (From Wikipedia, Ripping)
Note 2: I’m not a particular fan of very well-toned muscles, as I don’t think it is absolutely necessary, but, I like the analogy (1 Timothy 4:8). I do like to keep my weight in check, however! :)
