I’ve always struggled to share my testimony. I’ve felt that it wasn’t interesting enough to make a difference in people’s lives and that there wasn’t much useful about it, but God has slowly been opening my heart and eyes to the power of testimony over the past few years. 1 Peter 3:15 tells us to “…revere Christ as Lord [and] always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” Hope is hard to find in this world, but it’s life changing. The hope I have is more than interesting, and enough to change someone’s life both now and eternally, and that’s something to be excited about sharing.
In 2018, God put the idea of a fitness ministry on my heart. I wasn’t quite sure what that meant or looked like, but I was eager to follow His voice and took the step of becoming certified as a personal trainer. Shortly after, I came across Revelation Wellness, and knew instantly that this was the mission God was calling me to. As I researched what they were all about, I came across the phrase “fitness is my witness”. This opened my mind to a new way of approaching my testimony.
Fitness has always been a big part of my life. I grew up playing soccer, baseball, and basketball, and spent much of my time hiking and running. As a child, it was always about the love of the game and the enjoyment of endorphins for me, but as I transitioned out of school and club sports and into my adult life, I began to see fitness in different ways. I had always known the goodness of fitness: the relational aspect of sports and the positive impacts of having a healthy body mentally, physically, and emotionally. Once I was no longer living a lifestyle of fitness, though, I started to see the bad side. I saw the way I had spent my youth idolizing fitness. I struggled with idolizing the bodies that others had, and the body I once had and knew I could have again – only if I was willing to sell my soul.
I’ve learned that in life the biggest temptations are not the bad things, but the good things that aren’t what’s best, the things that are not wrong in and of themselves, but are wrong when we do them for the wrong reasons, or when we place them above God in our lives. There’s nothing wrong with fitness in and of itself. It’s good to be fit, but when that fitness stops with our body, it’s not enough, and when that fitness becomes the center of our lives, we miss out on what makes us truly well.
I’m learning to reclaim my body as God’s temple (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). I’m learning to be cautious of what I put into it and not to put too much stress on it. I’m learning to be thankful for what my body is capable of, and to acknowledge that it’s only through God’s design and power that I am able to move at all. I’m learning to be present in the moment and in the body that God has given me, because that is where He is.
I’ve been praying about this training for the past year and a half since I found out about it. At first I was told “not yet,” but over the last few months, I’m confident that God is telling me that now is the time. I’m excited to use my fitness story to share the hope I have with others. I’m excited to watch God set people free from the chains of idolatry as they learn about His love for them, and that He desires to be with them so personally and intimately.
“They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”
{Revelation 12:11}
{HPZ 6.20.2020}
Live Steadfast 