For Your Church

Are You Teaching Healthy Living From A Practical Sense?

I have been in church all my life, and one thing that remains true to this day is that church families love to eat.  This has been a common method of fellowship since the beginning of the church.  There is one more thing I have come to realize as well, that many churches not all but many churches have neglected the practical side of emphasizing good physical health.   There has been an increase in the faith based community concerning health and fitness, but we can do a whole lot more than we currently are doing right now.

If you are a leader in a church or of a church I would like to take this time to challenge you with one question.  Are you leading and teaching your members the importance of living a healthy physical lifestyle?  Just take a look around your congregation on a Wednesday night or Sunday morning service, how many physically fit patrons do you see? Now don’t forget to include yourself into the equation.  I know you are saying…..my members have gym memberships throughout the city, or even, God has us covered, he says that sickness is not of him so we trust and believe that his promise in the bible concerning sickness is true. Now don’t get me wrong God’s word is true and his word will not return to him void but do not forget we have an obligation in his equation for life here on earth.

1 Timothy 4:8 “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.”

Hopefully we understand that both give benefits to our lives. God wants us to be diligent in spreading the good news of Jesus Christ, he wants us to be healthy physically and spiritually while doing it, if that were not so, then why would Jesus go about healing the sick in their physical bodies?  As leaders of the church we have a responsibility to educate ourselves and then our members of the importance of taking care of our natural bodies.  You may not know how to do this very thing without sounding like a late night infomercial or even judgmental.  So let me give you some encouraging ideas.

  1. Bring a healthy dish to your church gatherings; with the advancement of technology there are many ways to find healthy and delicious recipes.
  2. Incorporate fitness programs in the church, offer opportunities for your members to get moving. For example, plan a family fun day where there are plenty of physical activities to challenge all age groups and fitness levels.
  3. Start a fitness and weight loss challenge with your congregation and when the competition is complete offer prizes such as gift cards for massages or a night at an upscale hotel. We have to get creative.

In closing I would like to extend a helping hand in changing the demographics of your church family.  Here at Restoring Bodies Fitness & Nutrition Services we are committed to building a healthy and effective church that reaches the community for the building of the kingdom of God here on earth.