“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,”
2 Timothy 3:12 ESV
As I move further along in my strength training, I am beginning to see correlations between it and my walk with Christ. One way is in what Matt Reynolds (founder of Starting Strength Online Coaching) refers to as "voluntary hardship." Getting under a bar and training for strength is just that, it is no cake walk. Our life as christians is very much the same. Paul tells Timothy in his second letter that "all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." That sounds a lot like voluntary hardship. So what's the payoff?
“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.”
James 1:12 ESV
Not "a" but "the" crown of life! Now that sounds like some serious gainz. Spend some time reading through the whole bible and it's no surprise, there are lots of scriptures that speak of God refining man by fire (thus we aptly named our gym the Furnace). But let's face it, refining by fire is not a peaceful process, it's pretty intense.
Both the Christian life and strength training share in voluntary hardship: you make a choice to go through a refining process knowing that there is benefit and reward on the other side. Similarly, neither have a finite end point. Both our genetic strength potential and our ultimate perfection in Christ will never be realized in full on this side of the new creation.
“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.”
Philippians 3:12 ESV
Let's not look for the quick Jesus fix or the 6 week program to make us like Brian Shaw or the Austrian Oak. Let's choose to go through a difficult refining process that makes us stronger in faith and in strength that will carry us through future hardships.
