Friday, March 11, 2011

Fit 4 Faith Kicking Off!

So I really hope you'll join me starting today through March 31st. That will be 21 days. Some people say that's long enough to start a new habit, but I'd say it's at least long enough to plant a new way of thinking in my heart and mind.


Each of the Fit 4Faith Fridays, I'll give you a verse to mediate on during the week. You might write it down and keep it where you can read it each day. This week it's 1 Cor. 6:19-20:

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
That's the REASON for being more "fit" overall that I'll keep before me, as I yield my habits and appetites and schedule to the Lord daily. There's no list to keep or points to count. Let me give you 4 words to think about. These are 4 ways to grow in our whole "fit-ness" for being useful for our faith.

Drink.  Read.  Move.  Rest.  

  • Drink water throughout the day. It meets a basic need and helps us remember to eat/drink what is clean, simple, and natural. It helps us remember we can't live by bread alone, and we need the Living Water.
  • Read God's Word. Since we can't live by bread alone, feeding on God's Word regularly nurtures our Spirit and gives us direction for what to do with our physical life. The more we read, the more peace we know.
  • Move.  We weren't meant to be sedentary, yet so many things (even blogging) in our technically driven world entice us to sit.  Like anything, stillness is a good thing that can be bad. It can turn into a lack of productivity, a lack of healthy activity and isolation. 
  • Rest in the Lord. Most women aren't very good at resting, but even Jesus rested, and God set a pattern of rest for us. We need to rest. Sometimes the most godly thing we can do is rest. 

4 thoughts to make us more Fit 4Faith living.  Drink.  Red.  Move.  Rest. For 21 days, turn your thoughts with me to these 4 actions, and we'll care for ourselves in a more God honoring way.

Need a little reminder each day? I'll be posting about Fit 4Faith during the next 21 Days, but here's an awesome resource I found!! Sign up at HabitForge for a free daily email reminder.  It will ask you, "Were you successful yesterday at Fit 4Faith?"  You click a quick YES or NO, and it gives a graphic showing your progress. It's another way to help us shape our habits to honor the Lord. I love this free tool, and I hope it will help you too!

Another idea for keeping the 4 simple thoughts before you ... Print out this little reminder chart, and circle what you did to honor the Lord each day. (It's a Google Doc, so email me if you can't open it.) You can even write the verse of the week at the bottom.

Have a great weekend, and I hope you'll take a step with me to be Fit 4Faith!

4 COMMENTS ~ Click here to leave a COMMENT:

Kristi Stephens said...

Great thoughts, Julie - so appreciate the reminder and looking forward to the encouragement!

Theresa @ Live for the Joy said...

This is exactly what I need! I had an old blog called Faith 2 Fit - :) I could definitely use a little encouragement. At this time in my life I am battling back problems and the pain has been almost a daily constant in my life for the last 5 months. Just today I made up a little sheet for myself to encourage myself in making small steps towards a bigger goal. Last summer I set off on my journey to losing weight and over the summer and fall lost 25 lbs. Then at the end of October I hurt my back and over the course of the winter have gained back 15 of those pounds. My goal is not even to lose weight at this point but to take smaller steps towards becoming healthier and managing my pain.

I haven't been blogging much but I'm so glad I stopped by tonight.

Julie_Sanders said...

Oh, Theresa, I'm so glad you stopped by too. Something like an injury can make simply moving such a challenge. It can cause a lot of changes in our habits. Sometimes we just need a fresh look at how we are/aren't caring for ourselves, and we need the encouragement of others to keep us heading in the right direction. I sure need that. I will definitely pray for you as you take those small steps, and I'll take some with you. Faith 2 Fit and Fit 4 Faith ... we're moving in the same direction. :)

Peace on your journey, one step at a time,
Julie

Julie Sanders www.comehaveapeace.blogspot.com

Nicholeakao said...

love it!