The #1 Reason to Exercise (Hint: It’s Not What You Think), with Shannan Painter and Cameron Mayhill

When it comes to exercise, it’s easy to swing to one of two extremes: obsession or neglect. But imagine what would happen if you began approaching fitness with a different mindset—one focused on availability, stewardship, and obedience? This episode of Grounded with guest Shannan Painter will make you walk away motivated to move the body God has given you for His glory. 

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Episode Notes

The 4.2.20 Foundation

“The Fitness-Driven Church” article from Christianity Today

Fit 4 the King website

“Steps to Walking in Obedience, with Lisa Anderson” video 

The Revive Our Hearts Podcast Family

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Dannah Gresh: Well, hey, there. Are you watching this episode on your treadmill? Because you might wish you were after you hear the alarmingly bad news about the weight of those who attend church versus those who don't. I'm Dannah Gresh. This is Grounded, coming at you live from Revive Our Hearts.

Erin Davis: And I'm Erin Davis. You can't see my feet. But I actually am standing right next to my treadmill. That's all I wanted for Christmas was a treadmill to put under my desk because of some of the things we're talking about in this episode. 

Our mission is the same week after week. We're here to give you two things: hope and perspective. And somehow, it's mid-January. I don't know where the year is going. And as Dannah mentioned, we're gonna start with some bad news. On a national scale, those of us who attend church are heavier than those who don't. What is going on there?

Dannah: Uh oh.

Erin: Yeah, we got to talk about it. Our guest is my personal certified personal trainer, and she's gonna give us all the details on that.

Dannah: She's very personal, your personal certified personal trainer.

Erin: She is my personal, personal, personal certified personal trainer. This episode feels really personal. 

Dannah: It is. 

Erin: My hands are sweaty, because we're about to show some pictures that make me feel very exposed. 

Dannah: Much too personal, I would say.

Erin: Yeah. 

Dannah: You know, we really think this topic matters—taking care of our bodies—because God has assigned you and I to be stewards of this earth, and that begins with taking care of our own bodies so that we're strong enough to tackle the rest of the task. And today we're going to think through what God's Word teaches about exercise. We hope you walk away . . . See what I did there? 

Erin: Good. 

Dannah: Walk away motivated to move that body that God's given to you for His glory.

Erin: Or jog away or run if you can, or add some ankle weights as you walk away, whatever. We want to equip you. 

There's some words I want you to grab on to in this conversation. Dannah just said the first one, “steward.” Stewardship is going to be part of our conversation this morning. I'm going to do something that feels really scary. In fact, when I woke up this morning, I thought, Okay, today's the day I'm going to show that picture on Grounded. I'm going to nominate myself to be the before and after model. For this episode. If your social media feed is anything like mine, you are inundated with before and after pictures, we all love them. We all want to see the transformation. 

And so, here's my before, this is me at the beginning of last year, taking a picture in my hallway. I'm proud to say that hallway is now cleaner, and that is no longer my body. But what happened is many years of having babies. I had four babies in 10 years, compounded by a global pandemic, we all gained some weight in the pandemic (or most of us did), compound it by caring for a terminally ill parent and caregivers. Often, our bodies shut down in the process of caring for someone else. It really has taken its toll on my body. 

And so, the moment I took this picture was about the time that I sat in a cardiologist office at the age of 42. He looked me in the eye, and he used the word “obese” to describe me. And he told me my options were pretty black and white. I could either get healthy, or I could die in my forties. So, a health crisis made me face the fact I didn't have a choice anymore, that I had very poor what I now call body theology. 

And since what we think shows up in how we live, you can see right there in that big ole belly of mine that the results of not having God Word grounding thinking about my body. They took their toll. 

Dannah: And, you know, that's my friend Erin. You look gorgeous to me, but your body was feeling not strong enough to do what God’s called you to do. 

Erin: Yeah, I was in duress. 

Dannah: I think that caring for your mom probably had a lot to do with this, because we know that stress creates inflammation. And cortisol has a really negative response on our body's metabolism. So, no doubt that was a really big factor. 

But your wakeup call happened on the day you took that picture. And you know what else I'm thinking? People who are our podcast listeners, they're gonna have to get on YouTube this week.

Erin: Yup. You’re going to have to get on YouTube to find that picture.

Dannah: You do not look like that anymore. Please tell me that you have an after picture that you're going to show too.

Erin: I do have an after picture to show. And listen, you're not going to see this after picture. It is not me in a beach bod. I don't suddenly look like I am competing in CrossFit competitions. That's not me. But I am happy to report that my heart is healthy. My kidneys are no longer failing, my joints don't hurt anymore. And this is what I look like about now. So go ahead and show that after picture. Get to it quickly so I can get that yellow shirt picture off. 

Dannah: Let’s see that after picture. My girlfriend looks awesome!

Erin: So that's about 25 pounds lost. I only say that number because, well, it takes a lot of work to get to it. I just I have learned so much about the Lord and how He's created me and what He wants for me through this process.

Interestingly, when I first started working out, I would cry through every workout. I didn't know what was going on. I didn't know how to take care of my body and I was having to learn, and so I'm just so grateful. I'm grateful to be doing this episode, because it's an area where the Lord's done a lot of work in me.

Dannah: Praise Him! Well, I don't have any pictures today. But I do have a before and after story of how a life-altering back injury ended up becoming my accountability partner. It forced me to exercise and that ended up being the catalyst for experiencing God and His Word in a brand-new way for me. So I'm gonna pass out some of that hope and perspective that God provided me through that when we get grounded in His Word today, I can't wait.

Erin: I actually love that story. I mean, that happens a lot with Dannah and I. God puts us on kind of parallel journeys that we can encourage each other in, and then we get to share with you. 

We also have a guest today. As I said, our guest today has been a part of my own health journey. But she just oozes Jesus. She gave me a reason to make exercise a part of my daily life, that frankly, I'd never heard before. And listen, I feel like every woman has been trying to solve this equation. I had never heard the things she's going to share with us. I'm really eager for you to meet her and hear from her.

Dannah: Well, that makes me wish she could come on right now. 

Erin: We have to wait. 

Dannah: But we have stuff to do. First of all, you have got to share the podcast. So, if you're on Facebook, tell your friends there. If you're on YouTube, your friends there, call your girlfriends who are trying to get this exercise thing that they've never been able to manage down. Let them know we have some gospel perspective for them on that today. 

And of course, we also have Portia Collins with some good news. 

Erin: Hey P!

Dannah: Good morning! 

Erin: Y'all might not notice, but we all showed up in our workout gear. Portia’s wearing her hoodie. 

Portia Collins: I looked at the tiger like … 

Erin: Yeah, there you go. 

Portia: So yes, I've got my sweat shirt on. I can't say that I'm ready to sweat, but we're gonna do what we gotta do.

Erin: Portia doesn’t love to sweat. Let's be honest.

Portia: I don’t, I don’t.

Well, one thing that I do love to do is share good news. We're gonna take some time to do that this morning. We do it in every episode of Grounded, because we believe that God is doing amazing things all over the world, and we want to praise Him for it. Okay.

I'm gonna bring up my special good news correspondent to tell us how God is at work helping people read the Bible in their own language. So welcome to Grounded Cameron Mayhill.

Cameron Mayhill: Hey, good morning, Portia. Glad to be with you today.

Portia: All right, let's get it started. I want to begin with a quick fact check here. According to the website for the ministry that you work for, which is called the Institute for Biblical Languages and Translation, you guys have translated 6,500 out of 7,350 languages?

Cameron: Well, I'll take you back to what we focus on. What we actually do, Portia, is that of the 7,200–7,300 living languages around the world, 90% of those languages still do not have the whole Word of God. 

And so, what we do is we bring Bible translators to Jerusalem, Israel, and train them in biblical Hebrew. They can go back to their home countries and translate directly from Hebrew into their own heart language. 

And so, we've seen a tremendous impact in raising up Bible translators who are working diligently for the Lord and giving them a new skill—going directly from Hebrew to their own heart language in their country. So, we've been excited to see that gap close. 

Portia: Wow, as a seminarian, first of all, Hebrew is no joke. But I have a newfound respect for the fact that you bring people to Jerusalem and you equip them. This is amazing. You got me hooked already. I've learned also that you have a big goal, to see the Bible made available in all languages by 2033. And so yeah, what do we need to do to make this possible? What do people need? What do you need to make this happen?

Cameron: Yeah, so there's a big Bible translation movement goal—to have a portion of Scripture by 2033 in all languages. Of course, the one that's lagging the most behind is the Old Testament. 90% of the world still does not have the Old Testament. But 26% of your New Testament is written directly from Old Testament Scriptures. Jesus quoted the Old Testament. 

And so, when we look at trying to understand our Messiah and understanding the reason for Jesus's death on the cross, we need the Old Testament. 

And so, for us, it's empowering and equipping these translators. We need people to come alongside of us, pray with us, and give resources to make it happen.

We had our most recent graduation class—18 students representing 12 nations, 20 languages translated when they get done. So, they're going to potentially give access to 4.5 million people to the whole Word of God when they complete their projects. But we need partnerships. We need people to come alongside of us for prayer and financial resources to get this training done for these Bible translators.

Portia: Yes, yes. Wow, wow. I love that you use the term “Bible poverty” to describe your mission. And so, I want you to take us through what is Bible poverty? And why would seeing it get eliminated ultimately be good news?

Cameron: Yeah, when you think of Bible poverty, you properly bring up that aspect that you are lacking, right? You're lacking in some aspect of life. And so, when you look at Bible poverty, it means that you're literally lacking Word of God. 

We have over 100 different translations in English and resources beyond measure. But most of the world still does not have Bibles in their own language. So how do you understand Jesus? How do you understand our Messiah if you don't have a Bible in your own language? So we're really focused on bridging the gap to make that happen in in eliminating that poverty— eliminating the fact that transformation happens from the Word of God. And if you don't have the Word of God, then we have to take those steps. 

And so, we're just vigilant about making sure that we get Bible translators trained in biblical Hebrew, so they can go back. What it does is it speeds up the timeline of the Bible translation process. And so historically, we've gone from 25 years, down to about 10 years, and we can close that gap even further directly from biblical Hebrew to their heart language. 

That's what we're passionate about. The fact that the Western world has Bibles in our own language, but most of the world does not. And when you start looking at the stories of young ladies that come out and realize once they have the first few verses of Genesis translated, and they realize that they were made in the image of God, and they have value in. That just sets the narrative for their entire life of understanding who the Messiah is and why Jesus matters in their life.

Portia: What a personal way to see how this project is like transforming lives. The fact that you mentioned these women who now realize I am made in the image of God, and how that's made possible because now they can read a Bible that they understand in their language. I think that it is amazing. I am super excited to see how God is gonna continue to grow this. Can you tell us tell us a little bit more about where can we learn more?

Cameron: Sure, the best place to learn more is on our website. It's actually 4220foundation.com. We would love to have you stop by and check out more resources and and jump on board with us to eliminate Bible poverty.

Portia: Perfect. We'll drop a link to that. Thank you so much for being with us today, Cameron.

Cameron: Thank you, Portia. I really appreciate it. It's been great to be with you.

Portia: Erin Davis, where are you girl?

Erin: I never thought about that before. 

Portia: I know.

Erin: I’m in. I want to eliminate Bible poverty in our lifetimes, too. Thanks for that. 

Portia: Yes.

Erin: Well, at five o'clock in the morning, every other week, you can find me with no makeup on, still in my jammies, talking to Shannan Painter. She serves on the ministry team for Fit for the King. They call themselves a body stewardship ministry. She's become a dear friend of mine. She's helped me think about exercise and taking care of my body in ways that I had been never thought of in my previous 42 years of life. I'm really excited about this episode. I'm excited for you to meet her. Welcome to Grounded, Shannan.

Shannan Painter: Hi, Erin. Thanks so much for having me.

Erin: We're just going to pretend that we are having our normal chat and all these women aren't watching us. Okay?

Shannan: Yeah, although I did put a little makeup on this morning.

Erin: Yeah, me too. People don't want to see us without it. 

Oh, I know you to be a woman who loves Jesus, you love His Word. I don't know that those are always the qualities necessarily we think of when we think of personal trainers. So, tell us a little bit about your story. How did you get into fitness for yourself and as your career?

Shannan: Well, Erin, I just want to say, first of all, thank you so much for your vulnerability and sharing your story. I think there are a lot of women who could relate. And while I don't necessarily have a before and after picture that shows physical weight loss, although that has been a piece of my past story, there was a need for me to apply biblical truth to the area of my body care. 

And for me what that looks like, was changing from working out being something that I did to seek affirmation or approval, to shifting to a point where I was exercising because I recognize the good gift that God had given me in a body. I wanted to steward it well so that I could have the energy to do what He called me to do. That was something that took years of my life and a lot of learning, and frankly, a little bit of heartache and a lot of mistakes along the way.

Erin: Same, same. You apply this one word to our approach to fitness. I've never heard anybody use this word in this context before. Here's the word “availability.” And you say it's the number one reason why we need to work out. It has become the number one reason I work out every day. What's availability got to do with the way we steward our bodies.

Shannan: Let me define that a little bit more. I'll give you an analogy. We say at Fit for the King that we want to be physically available to love God completely, let Him love others through us, and accomplish all He desires with us for His glory. 

So, here's my little analogy. I know you also have four kids. In my driveway sits a 2012 Dodge Caravan; it has 130,000 miles on it. We paid for it with cash. It's not fancy. I don't drive it because it's the coolest car. But I drive it because . . .

Erin: Our is the extended version, Shannan. Ours is the extra-long, Ford Transit for 12 passengers. But same deal. Nobody's head turns when I drive by because it's so cool. I can assure you of that.

Shannan: That's right. We drive our vehicles because we have children to transport with them. I love that I have a button that slides the door. So I don’t have to worry about my kids flinging the door open into someone else's car. 

And so, with my minivan, because it's not a flashy thing, I don't sit out there for hours a day and wax my minivan and buff it till it shines. But at the same time, I also don't completely neglect it. It needs oil changes; it needs to have gasoline put in it; it needs to have the check engine light serviced at times. 

And so, our bodies function in a similar way. God gave them to us as a vehicle to do what He's called us to do and go where He's called us to go. We need to do some maintenance to them. We need to care for them to keep them in working order so that we're available. 

So, if we if we aren't getting good rest, if we're not exercising, then we aren't going to be energized to do what He's called us to do. And on the other side of that, if exercise is so important to us that it consumes our thoughts and it is the first priority in our life, it might get to a point where we're neglecting things that we need to do like getting alone with the Lord every morning. 

Or you know, maybe we're not willing to miss a workout during the day to meet with a friend who needs some attention and encouragement. So that has been a picture that's helped me understand. I need to take care of it, and I want to be available. And at the same time, it doesn't need to be too important.

Erin: Yep, check under that hood baby. All the things you're mentioning we've been talking about really since True Woman where we met. They have been light bulb after light bulb after light bulb for me. I've spent a lot of time thinking about people in ministry with a heart for Jesus and a heart for others who have just kind of crashed and burned at some point because they didn't take care of their body, and I was on that trajectory. 

I thought a lot about my motherhood and how many times I've been irritable or haven't had the energy to play with my kids because I haven't taken care of my body. It's that thing that makes me available to do everything God asked me to do. Everything God has me to do, I must do with my body. 

So, I write with a body. I love people with a body. I host Grounded with a body. I worship with a body. I want to be available to follow where God wants me to go. So ding, ding, ding, ding, you hit the nail on the head to mix all my metaphors.

Shannan: Amen. 

Erin: But you said exactly what I was hoping you would say.

When you talk about being healthy, you talk about it in terms of freedom. I think that's interesting, because we more often associate any kind of health journey with restriction, “I can't eat this. I can't do that. I have to do this. I don't want to do that.” How has intentionally pursuing a healthy body led to greater levels of freedom for you?

Shannan: I think you mentioned restriction. I think my bent is towards wanting to do things perfectly and achieve and accomplish. And so, what you can see is sometimes we can find our own identity in our ability to do something if we're not careful. 

In the fitness industry, since I'm in that space, it can be really tempting to think, well, I can be more lean or stronger if I cut all of these things. And that makes it really hard. If I am so restrictive it doesn't free me up to go have dinner with people and enjoy whatever they might serve, it's not living in freedom to be completely restricted from certain food groups. 

I know you talked about that last week on your podcast. And so, I think that freedom is being able to go into social situations and have food that doesn't have control over me. And at the same time, I can go into a social situation and enjoy everything with thanksgiving, because it's a good gift from the Lord. 

So again, just watching those extremes. Culture gives us this sort of standard. We can think of it as this sliding scale. Like, I want to get over here. This is the standard for my body. God's standard is so much more freeing. 

Erin: Yeah.

Shannan: He made us uniquely. 

Erin: Yeah, God’s standard for me has nothing to do with the number on the fringes. Yeah, go ahead.

Shannan: Absolutely. God gave us each unique genetics and our care is to steward them. It's not to try to achieve a certain standard, and that should be freeing. That should free us up to say that my job is to care for, not obsess over and not neglect, but care for it. That brings freedom and release from pressure that God didn't put on us.

Erin: I can testify, I was in so much bondage before I was physically in so much pain all the time. So exhausted. I keep saying that I'm a new, new creation. I mean, there is freedom in embracing this as a stewardship availability position. 

At the top of the episode we said we're going to share something so sobering about church members in this conversation. Here's that bottom line. Those of us who attend church are, on average, heavier than those that don't. And that matters, because nationally, globally, we're heavy. 

And so, if you add another level of heaviness among those of us who are in the church, we should pay attention to that. Shannan, I think you've told me that on average we're about 10% heavier, which is saying something. I wanted to read this quote from Christianity Today article. We'll drop the link to that in case you're interested in following the research. But this is a stop you're in your tracks thought. 

On a national scale, we churchgoers weigh in among the heaviest . . .

They referenced a study from the University of Purdue that first broke the news that religious people (that's us) tended to be heavier than non-religious people. They put us in a category of fundamental Christians. They said, 

Fundamental Christians weigh in as the heaviest of all religious groups. [The lead researcher for that study minced no words. He said that] We are becoming a nation of gluttony and obesity and churches are a feeding ground for this problem.

The stats on pastors’ health are alarming. I know Shannan that you're married to a pastor. And if we were in line with those who don't follow Christ in the area of our health, we might shrug that off. But we actually are less healthy. Shannan, what's your theory? Why is it that we are worse off than those who are not following Jesus?

Shannan: I think part of it is that we tend to elevate spiritual things and then downplay the physical. Some of it, I think for pastors, being married to one, pastors know that they can't deal with the great amount of stress and relationship struggles that they have to navigate on a regular basis with drugs or alcohol or things like that. We know that, but gluttony and laziness has become something that has just sort of been culturally acceptable now. It's almost encouraged. You can get negative feedback from people if you're trying to go against the grain and go against culture. 

It's a bigger cultural problem. We've gotten to be very sedentary. We don't have to do a lot of manual labor. A lot of us sit for work. We have highly accessible processed food. It is a big cultural problem. We've got to be different in this area. Understanding the theology behind our body care is what will help us get there.

Erin: So true. I've said before, I'll say it again, I just had terrible body theology. And that was showing up in the way that I live my life. 

We don't just want men to take our word for this. Shannan, we don't want them to just go, “Oh, I want to do what they did” because they want to look like they look or whatever. What are some principles in God's Word that have shaped your personal approach to exercise?

Shannan: Okay. First, 1 Timothy 4:4 says it is of some value. Godliness is a value in every way. I think we can read this versus bodily training is some value. Godliness is a value in every way, rather than saying, bodily training is of some value. There's some value in that. I think that's good for us to remember. 

And then the second verse that I would say is at the beginning of Romans 12, where it says, 

I appeal to you, therefore brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing, you may discern what the will of God is what is good and acceptable and perfect. 

So, it's so easy to want to take the world's way of thinking when it comes to our body care. God says, “Don't be conformed to the ways of the world, but renew your mind.” You know, in traditional training, if I'm doing personal training, a lot of times it makes the trainer indispensable. We look at a trainer and think their body looks really great. I want to be like them, but with Fit for the King, what's indispensable is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives that leads to transformation in our thinking. The word of God is the power, and the hope of the Gospel is what will fuel us to change and to see our bodies differently.

Erin: Amen. Amen. Yeah, that verse you mentioned, from Paul, about physical training is of some value. That's where my theology went awry. I thought every day I had a choice. I should either choose between spiritual or physical. And of course, I should do spiritual. Well, God created both. So that got me in a cardiologist’s office in my 40s. And we would want to ask the Lord to transform your thinking, if you thought that too. 

I want to pray. I know Shannan will pray with us. We heard your heart loud and clear and everything you were saying, Shannan. I know women. I know there's a woman watching this or listening to this right now. You can hear the sound of my voice, and you have tried and failed, and tried and failed, and tried and failed, and tried and failed to get yourself on a better trajectory with your body. You've learned the hard way that no app or program or book is going to be able to make that change. 

So, I'm going to pray just as Shannan taught us to, to cry out to the Lord and ask the Holy Spirit to help you with that. So, let's pray. 

Jesus, we love You. Thank You for giving us bodies. Thank You that we have bodies that we can move. That's a gift we so often take for granted. And, Lord, as women help us to understand Your design. Help us to really understand stewardship and availability and submitting our bodies as living sacrifices. We don't know what that looks like. We've done it wrong for so many years. I pray for the one woman listening who has gotten her body in such a mess by not taking care of it. I pray that she would not feel shame, but that she would feel excited to steward it better. We are on that journey with her. We know that you are too. It's in Your name I pray, amen. 

Well, we're gonna drop the link for the ministry that Shannan's a part of, that’s Fit for the King Shannan, I've loved having you on Grounded. I can't wait for our next chat.

Shannan: Thanks so much, Erin.

Erin: “Availability,” “stewardship,” Those are words I hope you're starting to associate with fitness after this episode. Here's one more word to add to that list, “obedience.” 

As I've started to share my God-focused fitness story, which, as I've said, is a little bit scary. Many other women have shared that they sense the Lord asking them to evaluate this area of their life too. And if that's you, you may be wondering how to take the first step of obedience. 

A short conversation between Dannah and Lisa Anderson from a previous Grounded episode is gonna give you some clarity about how to obey. Let's watch and then Dannah is going to get us grounded in God's Word.

Dannah: So, speak to the woman right now who's being called to something. What would you say is the first step? If she's feeling uncomfortable with what God is calling her to do? What is her first step to begin to walk in obedience?

Lisa Anderson: Yeah, there's only one step. The only step we can take is the one right in front of us. I think a lot of times this is where we get into our own heads too much. We start projecting out to worst case scenarios. We start thinking”But what if, but what if, but what if? We don't trust that God will meet us there. 

So, I would say the absolute first step is to just stop and deliver the whole thing over to the Lord. Start praying about it, acknowledge your fear. God says in the psalms to pour out, your complaint, to Him. The person you're not supposed to pour out your complaint to is all the people that want to sit around with you and gripe and blame God and talk about fears. Pour it out to God, because not only does He care, but He can actually do something about it. So that's step one. 

And then the next thing is just taking that next step. So, my story in this is I just realized what a control freak I am, and how I wanted to step in. I remember going on a hike right here near me. And by the time I was done, I was so wound up about situations in my life. Then it spiraled into other things. I came home. In less than five minutes, I wrote down 36 people and situations I was trying to control that I had no control over. I'm talking about most of the women in my Bible study. I'm talking about every member of my family. Most of them had multiple entries under them. Then it went from there to coworkers, to my own boss, to the people who run Twitter, to the United States government. 

I mean, it's just like, one by one, God said, “Turn those over to Me.” I had to systematically just say, “I gotta let it go.” So that's a big thing. 

The other thing is get support from your Christian community, from your friends. When we're all walking through something hard or choosing to do something hard together, we can link arms. We can say, “It's scary to step out in this.” But if I know people are going to have my back, if I know people are praying for me, if I know that they're kind of assenting to the fact that I think God might be calling you to do this, we can do it. 

There's so many great Scriptures that apply to this as well. Going back to the Israelites with manna. Dannah, this was really impressed upon me just in the last week. We see in that story that manna that is hoarded spoils. Who wants to be part of that story? We are meant to be a conduit. If we think of a pipe, God's blessings to us, shoot them out the other direction to people, to the world, to the people who don't know the Lord, the people in your own church, your own family. We’ve got to be passing it on. Otherwise, it's just going to be stopped up. And ultimately, the blessings will spoil. And so, keeping that forward mindset is also really helpful for folks who want to get started.

Dannah: Well, I kind of wish that working out was not like manna. Wish I could work out once and it be good for the rest of my life, but that's just not how it works. You probably have gotten the idea that we want to get your body moving. But maybe exercising feels overwhelming to you. Maybe you're disinterested. Yeah, me too. But as you've heard 1 Timothy 4:8 mentioned many times today by Shannan and Erin. God's Word has something to say about it. 

I have a life story that illustrates this verse really well. So let me read it to you. Once again. It says, “For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4:8. 

So, I think that contains God's opinion of exercise. You heard Shannan say bodily training is of some value. Now, you won't find him saying that about social media or TV, right? So if you have time for those things, maybe you could consider using a bit of those hours each week for bodily training. It has some value. I want us to actually stop there before we move on and ask what value does it have? 

Well, I have a personal accountability partner, not a personal trainer, a personal accountability partner. Her name is Spondylosis. And if that sounds like something you don't want to get, you are correct. It is a condition in my spine that happened when I was helping someone move a few years ago, I was trying to lift a duffel bag that looked light and I twisted and at that moment, I felt such pain, rack my body, as I popped the pad between two vertebrae. Now that injury that happened just a few years ago has created a condition called Spondylosis. 

When I bend or I sit for a really long time, there's just a bone in my back that goes AWOL. And I'm in such pain, it could put me in bed for up to three days—the kind of pain that Bob has to help me move and get dressed and do all sorts of simple things. In general, I lived in pain that wore me out by about midday. And if I rested on my bed for a while, I would find the strength maybe for part two of the day. 

For a long time, you could imagine I thought this was just bad news. But then I got older and the pain got worse. Now it's worse news, right? Maybe, maybe not. Inflammation accompanied by dropping estrogen that was a recipe for joint and muscle pain on steroids. And I do mean that literally, because that's what the doctor ordered for me—steroids. And that came with a whole new set of side effects—a really big one. My emotions were tanking, anxiety and depression, were starting to be the boss of me. 

And then one day, as I was laying there in my bed, in my daily, maybe I can make it through the rest of the day, 15 minutes of rest. I thought, Hold on a minute. This is keeping me from serving Jesus, right here right now. And I got righteously angry about that. 

You see God has called us to steward this world. And I can't do that if I'm not first and foremost a steward of my body. 

So last August, some of you know because you did it with me, I started to walk every day. I aim for about 6,500 steps. Now truth be told, I was aiming for 10,000. And that would be great, but I never hit it. I hydrated more. And in just five weeks, my back pain ebbed. 

And now I didn't know why I was having such a radical transformation. Part of it is I believe that I was praying and asking the Lord to heal me and He did. But I've since learned that there are oils in your body and walking pumps that oil up, moves it around, and uses it to heal you. I've experienced that in my back. 

I have a girlfriend who experienced it in her brain. I'm happy to tell you that six months later, I still have to pinch myself because I can't believe how pain free, I'm living. 

I've returned to a younger version of my passion to serve Jesus to be available to Him with as much of my day as I can squeeze out for Him. 

Yes, bodily training is of some value. It enables us, equips us, strengthens us to serve Jesus. But let's look at 1 Timothy again. For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is a value in every way as it “holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” Godliness is a value in every way. 

Godliness, God thinking, God focus, God readiness is a value in every way. God obedience, God responsiveness, stewardship, according to the Word of God, that's value in every way. 

Now, here's the thing. As I was trying to decide what kind of exercise I would do to strengthen my body, I was checking out the world's exercise program, and I noticed something that was the opposite of God focus. And you might notice it too—a lot of positive affirmations and self-exalting thinking exists in the fitness world. 

And I gotta tell you, steer clear of that. I want to encourage you to use your exercise time to also pursue godliness because it's a value in every way. 

Last August I didn't just decide to walk. I decided to memorize Scripture, and I soaked my mind. in the words of Psalm 91. I began to memorize it. And I want you to know, I've had a hard time memorizing Scripture my whole life long. But the older I get, the harder it gets. 

As I was walking, it was easy. I since learned that when there's left right movement in your body, we memorize anything easier. Oh, God is so good to me. 

Well, I got the therapy my body needed. I also got therapy for my heart. I had godly training to become a strong servant for Jesus. 

Now, this experiment has been one of the sweetest encounters of Jesus that I've ever known. Some of you did it with me. I called it my “Holy Girl Walk.” And you know that as we met Jesus, we became more godly. As we did this bodily training, which was of some value, we experienced godly training, which is a value in every way. Jesus changed me while I was walking. 

For me to exercise, I had to think differently about my workout time. It could be something that had value in every way. I just needed to infuse it with God's truth, His positive words, affirmations about Him. 

So, I chose to memorize Scripture while I walked. You might listen to your favorite podcast. We hope you choose Grounded, or use your workout time to just pray. But let me encourage you, God wants your body to be strong for service to be available for Him. So, get your shoes, tomorrow's day one. Pursue some bodily training. After all, it has some value, but be sure to infuse it with godly training. Portia?

Portia: Good, good, good stuff, Dannah banana. So, I was tagging along with your Holy Girl Walks. I think I would share the same sentiments. It's something about being out and moving your body and then meditating on the things of God that feels so sanctifying. 

And so yeah, I'm grateful to you. 

Dannah: It’s exhilarating. 

Portia: Yes, yes, yes, that's the perfect word. 

Well, guys, we want to keep on giving you the good stuff. We've gotten a lot of good stuff in this episode, but I'm gonna just lay it on even more. In every episode, we always want to give you the good stuff. And today, we want to point you to the Revive Our Hearts podcast family. That's right. The podcast family, all right, because if you guys are Grounded sisterhood. If you're gonna start walking, then we're all going to need something solid to listen to. 

Alright, so I hope you're ready because we got to make a rundown. The family's big, and it's growing. Revive Our Hearts podcast family has a podcast for women in practically every season of life, right all the way down to the little women. And so, you can check out the Revive Our Hearts daily podcast with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth. We also have the Seeking Him podcasts, and it's short episodes designed to help you experience revival. We also have the Women of the Bible podcast, it's series based. And these episodes, they accompany our Women of the Bible studies so you can listen while you walk and then come back later on and work through your Women of the Bible workbook. Then we have the Revive Our Hearts Weekend podcast, Expect Something Beautiful with Laura Booz, The Deep Well with Erin Davis. And we also have our True Girl podcast for girls 8 to 12 years old, and their mamas. And most recently, coming in, joining the family is True You and this is a podcast for your teen girls. 

So, as you can see, we got a little bit of something for everybody. And we want you to head on over to ReviveOurHearts.com/podcast to subscribe and listen, we'll drop a link in the chat in the show notes for you to check out.

Dannah: To do your exercise . . .

Erin: I’m just picturing our girls walking and listening. 

Dannah: Yeah, listening, treadmill walking, whatever it is, you need those podcasts, you need to be infusing your heart with godly training while you're doing that bodily training. 

You know, Erin, when you and Shannan were talking about the fact that the church is heavier. I thought of a time when just recently I went to see a Christian movie that was in the theaters and I was so excited. But I got around the corner where I saw the audience that I looked up, and I could not believe how overweight everyone was and how many oxygen tanks were in the theater. I had never been to the theater and seen that before. It was a wakeup call for me. I turned to my mom and I said, “The Church has a problem.” And listen, if we are going to be available to Jesus, and if we're going to be good stewards of the Great Commission call and caring for the earth as he's charged us to do, we've got to get moving. So, I'm walking.

Erin: Mind if I read a couple of comments to that end?

Dannah: Yes.

Erin: Amy says, she realized that she could no longer tear down after women's events because she was in pain for days afterwards. And so, she was missing out on an opportunity to serve. That was her wake up call. Another woman says she has eight kids—five with disabilities. We pray for you, and that they need her and they're going to need her for a long time. And so, she's had to make some drastic changes. 

So, there's that availability thing again. Can you go to a movie and eat the giant tub of popcorn and sit and never move your body? Well, I guess you can. But does that make you available to do the things that God would have you do to serve others?

Dannah: Well, and here's the thing. The Bible tells us that a man dies for lack of discipline. Literally, that's what's happening to us. 

Erin: Yeah.

Dannah: We are dying a slow death when we lack discipline in how we approach food, and the care of our bodies. And all we're doing is inviting you to experience what Erin and I did in 2022. And that is, our bodies were changed. Well, our spirits get the drip down effect. It's easier to have a healthy spirit when your body feels well. If you know it, you know it. You've experienced it. I challenge each of you to get moving. I don't know what that looks like. Erin has her treadmill right there next to her right now. I started walking again yesterday. 

Erin: P’s got her water bottle. 

Dannah: I was just hydrating. But Erin, tell us what you're doing in 2023 to maintain that health you found in 2022? 

Erin: Well, first of all, you can pray for me because I go back to the cardiologist this week. I've been fighting for a year to get off of the medications that he's put me on. So that's been what's motivated me. And for me, it's about it being the way I live my everyday life. It's not until I hit a goal. It's not until I look a certain way, it becomes a part of my life. So, I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing, which is moving my body every day for God's glory.

Dannah: Yeah, I'm headed back to Pilates this afternoon after the Christmas break, haven't been there for a while and started walking yesterday. I'm gonna keep it up. Portia, what are you doing? Can you chime in on all of this?

Portia: Yeah, like water is my big thing. All my closest friends know, like the people went to college with me, I have never been a good water drinker. And guys, water is so necessary. There is so much that you can change just by drinking enough water. And so, this is 128 ounces. This bottle holds 128 ounces. That's my goal every day to drink at least 128 ounces of water.

Erin: You didn’t hear any talk about pounds or jean sizes for many of us, we're just taking that off the table

Dannah: Although, I wouldn't mind if I could pull my stack of jeans that I put in storage. I haven't given up by taking them to Goodwill yet. 

Erin: Your pre-COVID jeans? I hear you. 

Dannah: But here's the thing, our challenge is not for you to work out. Our challenge is not for you to drink water. Although those may be a piece of the puzzle. Our challenge is for you to infuse all the bodily training that you do, to do it with godliness. So, listen to that podcast, get into the Word, memorize Scripture. Pray when you do it. Bodily training is of some value, but godliness has value in every part of our life. Go get it. Tomorrow's day one.

Erin: Try to imagine if the hundreds of thousands of women who watch Grounded became more available to make impacts for the kingdom because we started stewarding our bodies differently. What kind of spiritual earthquake could that cause? Let's figure it out. 

Well, next week, we'll be right back here. It's still January, January feels like a really long month. And so, we're still going to be rethinking self-help. Still checking in on those resolutions. Next week, we're going to change course a little bit away from food and exercise where we've been. Amy Gannett is going to be with us and Scarlett Steurwald. They're going to help us not miss Jesus in our 2023 Bible reading plan. 

Portia: I'm super excited. You guys already know what I'm about to say. Let's wake up with hope together next week on Grounded.

Dannah: Amen.

Portia: Grounded audio is powered by Skype. Grounded is a production of Revive Our Hearts calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ. 

 

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