How to Get Unstuck in Your Fitness

Do you ever feel stuck in a rut with no way out? Do you ever find yourself wishing that your day-to-day life could be different? I know what it’s like to be stuck, and I have good news for you: Your present does not have to be your future!

Over the next three months, I will share with you how to get unstuck and move beyond mediocrity in the area of fitness—to be perfectly clear, fitness includes both food and exercise. This month I will focus on our need to surrender our body to God.

Your body was made by God and for God. In fact, your body is not for the gratification of yourself. The apostle Paul has some strong words for us in Phillippians 3:19: “Whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame-who set their mind on earthly things.”

God spoke to me through this Scripture and made me understand that my belly had become my god. I was eating for myself, not for God. This is idolatry. And I came to a verse that I knew very, very well that really spoke to my heart in a new and fresh way, and it was 1 Corinthians 10:31, where the Bible says, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

You see, if you’re going to get unstuck, you need to know where you’re headed, and where you need to go is not to a pill, not to a powder, not to a potion. That is not your solution. The first thing we have to do, which is the most important thing we have to do, is to surrender our bodies to God. This is where it starts.

I came to a point where I realized I had to glorify God with my body. It was no longer about gratifying myself; it was about glorifying God. In Philippians 1:20, Paul said that his goal, which I soon made my goal, was to magnify Christ in his body. Whether it was by life or by death, I was going to magnify Christ in my body. You see, the Bible specifically spoke to my heart and said, “You know what? You’ve got to start eating, you’ve got to start drinking, and you’ve got to start exercising to the glory of God.”

I had to come to the point where I found out that I had a spoon problem. You see, I had a total, absolute addiction to a huge, huge bowl of ice cream every single night before I went to bed—not most nights, but every night, and this was an addiction. I started this addiction as a child, and I continued it as an adult, and I came to the point where I could not honestly say that I was glorifying God with what I was eating. What I had to do was to surrender my spoon to God. I had to say, “God, I’m going to give you my ice cream spoon.”

I also had a fork problem. I liked a lot of food. If a cheeseburger is good, why not eat three of them? It’s good! So why not just eat three and, “Hey, you need some fries to go with that?” Later on I’d have that big bowl of ice cream. I didn’t have to put down a cigarette. I didn’t have to put down a bottle of liquor. I didn’t have to put down a porn magazine. I had to put down my fork. I’d say, “God, I need to glorify You with what I eat. I need to glorify You with what I drink. I need to honor You with my body because it’s not about me.” It’s not about a bod for Steve; it’s about having a bod for God.

Do you know what? If we just stopped right here at surrendering our body to God, we wouldn’t need anything else. Are you willing to surrender your body to God? This is where getting unstuck in your fitness starts.

I recently received an inspiring email from one of our Losing to Live participants, John Frankenburg. Read what he has to say about having a Bod4God:

“Pastor Steve, I wanted to update you on my progress since beginning my B4G journey last April. 

“I have been faithful in keeping with my new lifestyle living. I explain to healthcare providers, my family and friends … I have embarked on a lifestyle change and eating ‘biblically’!

“For the good news: My diabetes has almost disappeared. Deleted. One medication of three, and about to decrease or eliminate my meds altogether! My cholesterol is perfect now. H1C test fell from 8.4 in March 2013 to 5.7 in Dec 2013.

“Also weight has decreased from 256.6 to 204.4.  

“All the above while selling a home, moving and helping my best friend through kidney transplant surgery. Being a blessing to him and his wife!

“I owe this lasting change in lifestyle to B4G and Biblical living.

“My only regret is not starting this journey sooner in my 67 years! Your encouragement and ministry has been an awesome blessing to me.”

Bod4God is about creating your own healthy lifestyle plan. The litmus test of a fitness plan, a healthy lifestyle plan, has got to be: Will I do this the rest of my life? And if the answer is no, then you need to start working on a lifestyle plan that will work for you, and it’s got to be your own. It’s got to be something that God has led you to do, and it’s got to be something that you will gladly do the rest of your life.

In the next article, we will focus on exercise and excuses in Part 2 of “Getting Unstuck in Your Fitness.” Meanwhile, if you have questions or would like more information, please contact me at [email protected] or 703-568-7484.