The sun hadn’t fully cleared the buildings when The Shepherds Cafe opened its doors. The place smelled like coffee and warm bread, but Elijah walked in smelling like early air—clean, cold, and honest.
Jeremiah noticed first.
“You’ve been moving,” he said, not as a compliment, but as an observation.
Elijah set his Bible down and rolled his shoulder like it had earned the right to ache. “Walked before daylight. Nothing heroic. Just enough to remind my body it doesn’t own me.”
Barbara arrived a minute later with a scarf around her neck and a look that said she’d already been thinking. She sat, listened, and then said what most people avoid because it sounds too simple.
“Most Christians want spiritual strength without spiritual strain.”
Jeremiah smiled faintly. “And most Americans want physical health without physical discomfort.”
Elijah opened his NASB and rested his finger on a familiar line.
“Then we need to talk about exercise—both kinds. Because Scripture does.”
What exercising spiritual muscles looks like
Jeremiah leaned in. “In real life, ‘spiritual exercise’ isn’t mystical. It’s repeated obedience—especially when you don’t feel like it.”
Elijah read: “‘But have nothing to do with worldly fables… On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things…’” (1 Timothy 4:7–8, NASB).
Barbara nodded. “That verse doesn’t insult the body. It puts it in its place. Bodily discipline helps—just not as much as godliness.”
Jeremiah started listing what spiritual muscles look like when they’re actually being trained:
Prayer when you don’t feel “spiritual” Scripture intake that reshapes your thinking, not just your vocabulary Self-control at the moment of provocation Confession and repentance quickly, not eventually Serving when it costs you time and comfort Endurance—showing up again tomorrow
Elijah said it plainly: “Spiritual muscle is built when you choose the right thing under resistance.”
Barbara added, “And it’s also built by saying no. A lot of people think spirituality is all about adding good things. But some of the strongest spiritual reps are refusals: refusing rage, refusing lust, refusing gossip, refusing self-pity.”
Elijah turned another page. “‘The fruit of the Spirit is… self-control’” (Galatians 5:22–23, NASB). He looked up. “Fruit grows, but it still requires cultivation.”
Biblical examples of spiritual strength training
Jeremiah’s pencil moved like he was tracking evidence.
“Jesus is the clearest example of spiritual conditioning.”
Elijah nodded. “He didn’t improvise holiness. He practiced it.”
Jesus in the wilderness: resisting temptation when hungry and alone (Matthew 4). Jesus withdrawing to pray: not once, but repeatedly (Luke 5:16). Jesus in Gethsemane: obeying under crushing pressure—‘not My will, but Yours be done’ (Luke 22:42, NASB).
Barbara leaned forward. “That’s spiritual muscle: obedience under strain.”
Jeremiah added another set of examples—less glamorous, more relatable:
Daniel praying consistently even when it became dangerous (Daniel 6). Joseph refusing sexual sin when it cost him (Genesis 39). David strengthening himself in the LORD when everyone wanted to stone him (1 Samuel 30:6). Paul enduring hardship without surrendering his mission (2 Corinthians 11; 2 Timothy 4).
Elijah summed it up: “Spiritual giants aren’t people with special emotions. They’re people with trained responses.”
What exercising physical muscles looks like for Christians
Barbara tilted her head. “Now let’s be honest. Some Christians treat the body like it’s irrelevant, or worse—like it’s an enemy.”
Jeremiah shrugged. “And others treat the body like it’s a god.”
Elijah held the middle line. “The body is a stewardship. Not a shrine. Not trash. Stewardship.”
He read: “‘…present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.’” (Romans 12:1, NASB).
Barbara nodded. “So physical discipline can be part of worship—if it’s governed by humility and purpose.”
Jeremiah added, “Physical training isn’t righteousness, but it can support righteousness. A tired, undisciplined body can become a weak point—short patience, quick temper, low endurance, inconsistent habits.”
Elijah’s tone was practical. “You don’t have to become a fitness influencer. But you do need enough stamina to serve, enough health to endure, enough clarity to think.”
Barbara smiled. “In other words: build a body that can carry your calling.”
Biblical examples connected to physical discipline
Jeremiah flipped to Paul again.
“Paul uses athletic imagery constantly—running, boxing, training—because he understood discipline.”
Elijah read: “‘Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things… Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave…’” (1 Corinthians 9:25–27, NASB).
Barbara pointed to a phrase. “That’s not body-hate. That’s body-management. He’s saying: my appetites do not drive my obedience.”
Jeremiah added, “And Hebrews uses endurance language too: ‘let us run with endurance the race that is set before us’ (Hebrews 12:1, NASB). That’s spiritual, but it borrows from physical stamina.”
Elijah nodded. “God designed the metaphor that way because it’s true: endurance is endurance. Training is training. Consistency is consistency.”
The crossover: when physical and spiritual muscles reinforce each other
Barbara spoke carefully. “One of the biggest mistakes Christians make is separating the two—like spiritual health floats above physical reality.”
Elijah agreed. “But fatigue can make temptation louder. Isolation can make anxiety stronger. Poor routines can make prayer inconsistent. And neglecting the body can turn everyday life into unnecessary suffering.”
Jeremiah added the balancing correction. “And the reverse is also true: physical discipline without spiritual discipline can produce a strong body and a weak soul. You can be fit and still be enslaved.”
Elijah read: “‘For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?’” (Mark 8:36, NASB).
Barbara nodded. “So we train both, but we prioritize the soul.”
What it looks like this week, not in theory
Jeremiah closed his notebook. “Let’s make it concrete. What does this look like in a normal week for a Christian?”
Elijah answered without drama:
Daily: a fixed time for Scripture and prayer—even if short, even if quiet Daily: one deliberate act of self-control (speech, appetite, screen habits, anger) Weekly: consistent worship and Christian fellowship, because isolation kills strength Weekly: a modest physical routine—walks, strength training, stretching—enough to support service Ongoing: one “endurance practice”—doing a hard good thing repeatedly until it becomes normal
Barbara added, “And when you fail, you don’t quit. You repent. You reset. You resume. That’s training too.”
Elijah looked up. “Nobody becomes strong by never falling. Strength comes from getting up without excuses.”
Jeremiah smiled. “So the goal is simple: exercised faith in an exercised body—so we can love better, serve longer, endure more, and obey with steadiness.”
Barbara lifted her mug. “And that,” she said, “is what spiritual and physical muscles look like when they belong to Christ.”