Swoll with Conceit

"But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be... treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God..." - 2 Timothy 3:1-2, 4Welcome to this week's Fit Tip Friday!Growing up, my parents had slowly accumulated equipment they used to build their home gym. It was a Frankenstein-ed assortment of random equipment, all stitched together to create a home environment conducive to exercise. Included in this equipment was a mirror that was mounted on the wall.  

Mirrors are not just for decoration in gyms. Mirrors allow you to critique your form throughout your workout. The last thing you want to do while exercising is to regularly move incorrectly, which can lead to injuries. But there's another type of injury that can be sustained with the mirror. And this one is an injury of the inner man.I remember watching myself pack on muscle in that home gym mirror. My form was great! But the inner man was slowly packing on an injurious gain.Conceit. I was getting swoll, but I was also getting swoll with conceit. Conceitedness is an elusive foe that creeps up in the heart of those pursuing body-stewardship. God has equipped us by His Spirit and Word to address it, and we must make all efforts to put it to death. Strength MisdirectedConceit is a twisted use of your strength that is the opposite of stewarding it for God. If effective body stewardship is the use of your body in a way that glorifies God, then conceit is exploitative body stewardship that uses your body in a way to glorify self. Strength is misdirected towards a pursuit of your own glory. Distorting the Natural and the GoodConceit takes what is natural and good and distorts it into self-worship. The physical results of stewarding your body well are natural and good. They are natural in that your body responds to exercise, rest, and eating well with physical results within God's created order, and they are good in that God was the One who designed your body to respond this way (Genesis 1:31).  

When a plant receives water, sun, and soil, it grows and produces fruit, which is both natural and good. When a nursing infant receives his mother's milk, care, and rest, he grows and matures, which are both natural and good. When your body receives regular exercise, disciplined nutrition, and sufficient rest, you become physically stronger and healthier, which are both natural and good. The Heart & Worship

The issue with conceit then doesn't originate from the results from exercise, but like all other idols, it finds its root within the sinful heart. Conceit is a self-exalting, self-adoring, self-worshipping attitude of the heart that displaces God as the rightful Owner and Creator of our body. We exchange the glory of God for images resembling ourselves (Romans 1:23), and our bodies become an idol. This inflated view of self is exactly what the word conceit in 2 Timothy 3:4 is describing. The Greek word for conceit in this verse is typhoō, which is a verb metaphor that takes the concept of rising smoke or wrapping in mist and uses it to describe pride. Conceitedness is the heart's condition of being puffed up with pride and inflated by one's ego.  

The solution to conceit is found within the problem. Conceit is misdirected worship. We were created to worship God and steward our bodies for His glory. Instead of using our bodies to worship ourselves, we ought to use our bodies to worship God. 

Romans 12:1 summarizes the God-honoring alignment of body worship well: 

"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" - Romans 12:1. 

Discipline & the Yo-Yo Diet

Two weeks ago on the LF Newsletter, I reviewed the formidable trait of diligence and its applicability to fitness and health. You can read that content here in a new blog post.  

Summary:A 2016 study followed 14 "Biggest Loser" participants before and after the show. The participants each lost an average of 100 pounds during the show but afterward regained most or in some cases more of the weight they lost. These participants also showed diminished levels of leptin and slow metabolisms, that never rebounded to pre-show levels. This "yo-yo dieting" is an illustration of Proverbs 21:5, where hastiness bankrupts and diligence profits. The fads of the day are designed for the quickest results in the shortest time possible, while diligence indomitably plods onward towards abundance.  

Blessed Beats - Playlist #4 

There is a new Layman's Fitness workout playlist on Spotify, LF Workout Playlist 4. You can visit the playlist by clicking the hyperlink or by clicking the Spotify icon at the bottom of this email.  

• Rebel Intro - KB

• Rebel Rebel 88 - KB

• About to Break - Kings Kaleidoscope

• Hold Me Back - KB

• King Jesus - KB/nobigdyl

• Hero - Skillet

• War - Trip Lee

• Most of It - Kings Kaleidoscope

• Lights in the City - Tedashii

• Kamikaze - KB

• Dark Days Darker Nights - Tedashii

• Joyful Noise - Flame

This is a 12 song playlist that takes ~42 minutes. Enjoy!