My son\u2019s marathon coach (he has run 55 full marathons) said to me: \u201cHe got his legs from you. Why don\u2019t you let me train you to run a half-marathon.\u201d I was already running three miles almost daily, so I figured \u201cWhy not?\u201d So, with grit and determination and my son\u2019s coach giving me the daily training techniques, I was all in. I would go on to run several half marathons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On clear days, I would run in my community. On rainy days or winter weather, I would run on my treadmill. That treadmill became my friend. I never left it untouched, collecting dust. I continued to listen to my personal trainer. My running shoes were front and center in my closet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here I am, several years later and I am still in training \u2013 not for getting another medal, but to ensure my body stays fit and strong. I still use all the tools necessary (elliptical equipment, treadmill, weights, bands, etc.) to reach my goals. I want to finish my life race strong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s an analogy for those of us who desire to be our best for God and using all the resources we can for running our spiritual and life race. Of course the Holy Spirit (who lives in us) is our personal trainer. If we listen closely, He’ll even keep us from stumbling on the race track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And, if we look around our homes, we\u2019ll probably find more than one copy of God\u2019s Word lying about on bookshelves, nightstands, and coffee tables. Many of us have multiple Bible versions — Bibles in leather or hardcover, and Bible apps on our phones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We have many options for growing our faith muscles. In 2 Timothy 3:14-16, the Apostle Paul said to Timothy, one of his trainees in ministry: \u201cBut you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you. You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The same is true for me and for you. It\u2019s easy to give up or not even try when we think we won\u2019t be good at something. And that\u2019s exactly why we must be intentional about spending time with God and His Word. We need to be fit spiritually, mentally, and physically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We and our families need to be God\u2019s students — daily gleaning from His teachings and following through on what He says our top priorities should be. God\u2019s Word and prayers are essential in our daily training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shouldn\u2019t we lace up our sneakers and walk with our families and friends in all we have been given through the Word of God? May we be \u201csoul\u201d trainers for those around us who need to be examples of \u201cbody and soul\u201d victors!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Proverbs 22:6, \u201cTrain up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My son\u2019s marathon coach (he has run 55 full marathons) said to me: \u201cHe got his legs from you. Why don\u2019t you let me train you to run a half-marathon.\u201d I was already running three miles almost daily, so I figured \u201cWhy not?\u201d So, with grit and determination and my son\u2019s coach giving me the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17860,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26458,26456,26459,26457],"tags":[26453,19,1210,1769,1717,1111,1358,26450,26454,24468,40,3032,26449,26447,26452,30,26455,26448,26451,886,21612,3223],"class_list":["post-17859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-body-fitness","category-fitness","category-personal-trainer","category-spiritual-fitness","tag-2-timoty-314-16","tag-bible","tag-blog","tag-christian","tag-coach","tag-determination","tag-faith-muscles","tag-fit-and-strong","tag-gods-students","tag-grit","tag-inspiration","tag-marathon","tag-medal","tag-personal-trainer","tag-rack-track","tag-scripture","tag-soul-trainers","tag-spiritual-fitness","tag-spiritual-race","tag-spiritually-fit","tag-tools","tag-treadmill"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17859"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17859\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17865,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17859\/revisions\/17865"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}