Spiritual Crossfit

Date: Friday, November 13, 2026

Paul warns Timothy that some will drift into teachings that forbid marriage and certain foods, a hyper-spiritual asceticism that treats the physical world as the problem. His answer is totally earthy: “Everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving” (1 Timothy 4:4). That’s Genesis 1 echoing down the centuries. The gospel doesn’t rescue us out of creation; it redeems creation (and us with it) as it centers on a risen Jesus who ate fish in front of His astonished friends (Luke 24:42–43).

Then Paul reaches for an athletic metaphor: “Train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way” (vv. 7–8). The Greek verb is gymnazō, the root of our word “gymnasium.” Godliness takes reps.

Jim Elliot knew both kinds of training. He wrestled for Wheaton College in the 1940s, but his journals reveal a young man working out even harder in prayer and Scripture. In 1949 he wrote the line that would later go around the world: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” In January 1956, Elliot and four fellow missionaries were killed by Waorani warriors in the Ecuadorian jungle. The story didn’t end there. His widow, Elisabeth, later went to live among the very people who had killed him, and several of those warriors came to faith in Christ. That’s the long game Paul describes: godliness “holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come” (v. 8). And we strive “because we have our hope set on the living God” (v. 10). We’re not training to earn a spot on the team. We’re training because grace already put us there.

Devotional Prompts:

Where are you tempted to see the physical world (food, bodies, work, pleasure) as an obstacle to faith rather than a gift received with thanksgiving?
What “reps” of godliness, such as prayer, Scripture, service, or rest, are you building into your weekly rhythm?

Prayer: Creator God, everything You have made is good, and every gift is an invitation to give You thanks. Train our hearts in godliness with the patience of a coach and the tenderness of a Father, so that our lives bear witness to the hope we have in You. Amen.