Just do something…small.
If getting fit and strong were easy…we wouldn’t need to talk about it. But it is hard and for good reason. Everything in our city is setup for short term rewards. Uber eats, Netflix, smartphones…all of these things encourage us to do things that feel good now and make us feel terrible later.
It’s noteworthy to consider that even though none of these things on there own are sin…they do mimic the nature of sin. When Satan tempts Eve in the garden to sin, he offers that she will not surely die…which turns out to be kind of true…in the short term…and yet leads to universal death for all human history in the long term. Almost every temptation to sin involves short term pleasure for long term pain. This is why the virtue of self-control is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Much of our sanctification involves trusting God over the fleeting rewards of sin.
Probably the best argument for daily exercise is that it develops and strengthens self-control. So why is it so hard? As always, Proverbs has wisdom to offer:
PROVERBS 25:28
Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.
Self-control is like a city wall. If the city is your soul, self-control is a wall that guards it from attack. A city without walls is easily overthrown by the smallest of armies. In the same way a man with no self-control is overthrown by even the weakest temptations. Conversely a man with self-control is not easily overthrown even by strong ones. This metaphor is instructive.
If you go out to build a wall around a city in a single day you will find yourself discouraged. Likewise a wall that is built hastily and carelessly will easily come down. But a wall built carefully, one brick at a time, will take a long time to build…but will not be easily broken down.
In the same way we are best to develop self-control steadily and carefully through small faithfulness rather than urgently and carelessly. So when it comes to getting started on improving your strength and fitness, try starting…small. For eg.
-Instead of committing to run a marathon…just commit to Run 1km a day for 21 days straight.
-Instead of buying a gym membership…commit to doing just 10 pushups a day for 21 days straight.
-Instead of making a commitment that you will never miss a day (perfectionism), making a commitment that you if you miss a day you will never miss two days in a row (resilience). This will help you not to spiral if you break your streak.*
Once you have developed the self-control to do something consistently it’s much easier to dial up the difficulty. We tend to do the opposite. We come out of the gates hard, go hard for a short time, then pack it in. When it comes to self-control consistency always precedes difficulty. But whether you try the above things or something else, if you feel convicted that this is an area where you need to grow in godliness just do something…small…and often...and see what happens! And remember “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Tim 2:7).
*All these tips are from Atomic Habits by James Clear. The audiobook is worth a listen…he has a bunch of helpful advice on how to break bad habits and setup good ones.
