3. Don’t Exercise Alone

During my second year in college, my best friend and I noticed that we were starting to get manguts.  We didn’t like it so much so we started lifting regularly.  We went to the gym 6 nights a week.  We held eachother accountable for maintaining this schedule.  One evening, there was an ice storm.  It wasn’t a fit night out for man nor beast.  We had a 20 minute walk in the freezing cold.  We had to climb around trees that had fallen down and walk up steep icy sidewalks.  Most people, even those who stick to a regular routine would have said, “I think I can skip a night.”  But I wasn’t going to let him off that easy and he sure wasn’t going to let me off the hook.

We got there to find that the free weights were closed because no one was there to proctor.  Only the nautilus equipment was accessible.  Nautilus meaning the machines with weights and pullys.  We finished all our exercises except one… because we needed the free weight bench.  There was an eight-foot fence around the entire free-weight section.  And again, had there been only one of us, we would have left that exercise out for the night.  But we were both there, iron sharpening iron, and we weren’t going to let each other give up just because of a stupid fence.

So we climbed the fence.  Let me add that the holes in the fence were too small for our shoes.  This made it especially difficult to climb.  But giving each other a boost, we climbed it and made it inside.  Then we acquired the enormous bench, threw it over a shoulder and climbed the fence back to the other side.

This is why we need the Church.

Ephesians 4:16

“He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”

Don’t exercise alone because we need each other to grow.  Without accountability—I know we hate that word—but without accountability, we won’t stay disciplined.  We’ll let other things get in the way of our health.  I encourage you to form relationships that will keep you on track, that will keep you on schedule, that will keep you disciplined.  Don’t rely on your pastor to keep you in check.  Form strategic relationships with many different people from Church.

Ask someone to carpool to Bible study or church.

Find an accountability partner and share with them your weaknesses and temptations.  Have them ask questions about these issues regularly.

Life is hard.  God didn’t intend for us to do it alone.  That’s why he gave us the Church.