September: Strength for Life
When people talk about strength, the conversation usually turns to how much someone can lift. How much can you squat?...How much can you bench?...What's your deadlift?
Those numbers can be fun to chase, and there's definitely nothing wrong with wanting to get stronger in the gym, but for most of us, the gym isn't the most important reason we need strength.
Think about how many things you do every day that require it: Carrying groceries into the house; picking something heavy up off the floor; climbing stairs; getting up from a chair; moving furniture; lifting a suitcase into the car; playing with your kids or grandkids. We use strength constantly, whether we realize it or not.
The goal of strength training shouldn't just be getting better at lifting weights. It should be building a body that is better prepared for life.
Strength Becomes More Important as We Age
There's a misconception that strength training is mostly for younger people or people who want to build muscle. In reality, maintaining strength becomes increasingly important as we get older.
We naturally lose muscle as we age, especially if we're not doing anything to challenge it. Over time, that loss of muscle can make everyday tasks harder. Things that once required very little thought can slowly become more difficult.
This is one reason we need to change the way we talk about strength training. We're not just building muscle for today; we're protecting our ability to keep doing things for ourselves later.
Strength helps us maintain our balance, move more confidently, support our bones and joints, and continue doing everyday activities independently. You may not care what you can squat when you're 75, but you will probably care whether you can get yourself off the floor.
Train for More than the Gym
I love watching people get stronger. Adding weight to an exercise you've been working on feels good. Doing your first push-up feels good. Picking up a dumbbell that used to feel heavy and realizing it doesn't anymore feels good. Those are amazing accomplishments, but I think the best evidence that your training is working often happens outside the gym.
Carrying all the groceries inside without needing another trip; realizing the stairs don't leave you as winded; helping someone move something heavy; carrying your own luggage when you travel...those types of things aren't usually tracked on a fitness app, but they matter. Your workouts should make you better at living your life, not just better at working out.
Practical Ways Faith Mirrors Fitness
Strength has to be developed.
We don't become physically stronger by avoiding resistance. Our faith grows in much the same way. Difficult seasons aren't always something we would choose, but God can use them to grow us.
What you build now can help you later.
The strength you develop today may make something easier years from now. The same can be true of the time we spend growing in our faith before difficult seasons arrive.
Strength looks different for everyone.
The weight that's challenging for one person may be easy for another. Comparison doesn't tell us whether we're growing. What matters is faithfully working with what we've been given.
Strength should be useful.
Being strong isn't just about what we can do for ourselves. Both physical and spiritual strength can better equip us to show up for other people when we're needed.
SEPTEMBER ACTIVITY: What does strength mean to you?
This month, let's think beyond the weight we lift in the gym. Take a few minutes to think about the following questions.
(1) What is something you want to continue doing as you get older?
Traveling? Gardening? Hiking? Playing with your kids or grandkids? Living independently? Think about something that matters to you.
(2) What does your body need to be able to do for that to remain possible?
Think about strength, balance, endurance, mobility, and coordination. You don't have to overcomplicate it. Just think practically about what that activity requires from your body.
(3) What are you doing now to protect that ability OR what is something you need to start doing to protect that ability?
Maybe you're already strength training consistently, or maybe there's an area of your fitness you've been ignoring because it doesn't feel important right now.
Build strength for more than the gym.
Build strength for your life.
My Prayer For You
Dear LORD,
Thank You for the bodies You've given us and for everything they allow us to do. Help us appreciate our physical abilities without making them our identity. Give us wisdom to care for our bodies well today while trusting You with the things we cannot control.
Help us build strength that allows us to continue serving, helping, working, and participating in the lives You've given us. Remind us that our strength ultimately comes from You and that everything we build should be used for Your purpose rather than our own pride.
Let all that we do seek to glorify You and Your kingdom.
Amen.
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