Biblical Worldview Archives - The Workout Mama

The 5 People I Know Who Have Had The Biggest Impact On My Faith

These people would all be the first to tell you they are not perfect. Everyone of them has their own habits, hurts, and hangups but what they all have in common is that they have allowed the power of the Holy Spirit to work through them.

There are so many people who have poured into me over the course of my life. If that applies to you I say thank you. To those of you mentioned below I also say thank you. You have impacted my life greatly and I am very appreciative for the time you have spent that shaped me into the person I am today.

MY MOM

I have to start with my Mom. I watched her from the time I was young have her quiet time, can remember her taking my brother and I to church Sunday mornings, and witnessed the women she surrounded herself with encourage and uplift her. When I was younger I didn’t understand her desire for bible studies, journaling, or prayer. I get it now.

I often think of the Andy Stanley quote “Your greatest contribution to the kingdom of God may not be something you do but someone you raise.” I pray that I can encourage my own children’s faith journey the way my Mom encouraged and created an environment for mine to start to grow.

MY JUNIOR HIGH DISCIPLESHIP LEADER

At the church I attended in junior high, Sun Valley Community Church (this was before they had a building and met in a movie theater), I attended a weekly discipleship group (or d-group). These groups met in the leaders home with several other students and discussed life from a biblical worldview.

My leader Melissa was a mom of 3 boys and each week she invited myself and a handful of other girls into her home. Melissa helped me memorize scripture that to this day I still have memorized, taught us girls how to make “booger” cookies (cookies made with pistachio jello), and showed a love for Jesus that I had never witnessed before.

She lived and breathed Jesus. She still does. After our d-group ended she continued to meet with me every few weeks and we tackled several Max Lucado books together.

MY PASTOR

When Josh and I started dating he hadn’t been attending church on a regular basis. He went when family was in town or for holidays. I had grown up going to several different churches for a period of a few years before my family would switch and try another church. When Josh and I started dating I was craving a church family and wanted to find a church home.

When Josh suggested we look for a church together I was excited and nervous. Excited that we were going to start going to church together and nervous that we wouldn’t be able to find a church that we both really felt at home in. For weeks we tried different churches and we were excited when we found a church that had a Saturday evening service also. We stepped into Chandler Christian Church on a Saturday night 10 years ago and have been attending services there ever since.

The senior pastor Roger Storms and the staff at Chandler Christian Church have been a huge part of our life this last decade. Roger’s faith and his love for his family and community are a beautiful thing to witness.

I have engaged with God more, developed a habit of asking the Holy Spirit to speak into my life, and have become more confident with communicating biblical truths since attending Chandler Christian Church under Roger’s leadership.

MY ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNER

This one. There is so much I could write. Livonia came into my life through Chandler Christian Church. Shortly after Josh and I were married we signed up to take a weekly marriage class facilitated by a pastor at our church and his wife. The class used various books (Love and Respect, Sacred Marriage, Boundaries in Marriage) for weekly reading/homework and “Papa” Joe Beam’s videos. All of the other couples in our class had been married 8+ years so we were the babies having only been married a few months.

The class was great, we learned so much, had conversations we would have NEVER had at that point in our marriage, and met some pretty awesome people. One of the things our church recommend we do after getting married was find a couple who could mentor both Josh and I over the next year. From this marriage class we found our mentor couple. Livonia met with me weekly while her husband met with Josh.

Livonia, a mom of 4 kids and a business owner, allowed me to be part of her life. I went grocery shopping with her, hung out at her house, prayed, and we would read our bibles together. I could tell her anything and everything and I did. Stuff I couldn’t talk about with anyone else and she totally got it. I can’t tell you what a relief it was to be able pour out my heart to someone and not feel judged but only understood. She taught, showed, and prayed God’s grace over me and my marriage.

MY TUESDAY MORNING BIBLE STUDY GROUP

I know this isn’t technically a person. Last year I committed myself to joining a bible study. Caden’s preschool happened to have a bible study group at the same time he was in school and they had free childcare for Maisie. I took a deep breath, was totally out of my comfort zone, and within minutes of my first time attending felt so welcomed and loved on.

This group of ladies has blown me away with their love. They support and encourage others and showed me what being the hands and feet of Jesus look like. I am looking forward to studying, learning, and being challenged more together this year.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post there are so many people who have spent time guiding me and shaping me over the course of life. My life is messy and I am still learning daily to show grace to others and most importantly myself.

I would love to hear from you! Who has influenced your faith?

3 Biblical Reasons to Take Care of Your Body

What motivates you to take care of your body? Here are 3 biblical reasons to take care of your body that personally motivate me. Fitness, just like anything, can become an idol if you allow it. By shaping your worldview around what the bible says,taking care of your body can be another act of worship.

TAKING CARE OF OUR BODIES GLORIFIES GOD.

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. -1 Cor 10:31

God created your body. He wants you to take care of it. Illness, disease, and death are going to happen. No one, not even Christians are immune to it. It doesn’t matter if you tithe your 10%, give a little extra, serve in a ministry, and honor your spouse. Life happens, everyday, all the time. There is only so much we can do to take care of the bodies we have.

Self care is a discipline. It takes dedication, time, and effort to grocery shop, cook healthy meals, and workout. Just like reading the bible, praying, and tithing are considered spiritual disciplines, the process of taking care of your body to glorify God is also a spiritual act. More on this also in the next section.

JESUS DIED SO YOU COULD LIVE.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. -Romans 12:1

This reason is super important so don’t miss it. Your life has a purpose (Jer. 29:11). It is easy to go through seasons of our lives on autopilot missing all the good God has placed around us. I am totally guilty of this. Any other moms to little ones agree? I can become so consumed in my own little world that I miss opportunities that I could have been used by God to bless another person.

God is whispering to us all the time. It is a matter of deciding who we will pay attention to. God’s whispers or the enemy’s lies. I have battled with anxiety and can happily say that God has given me the power to overcome my anxious thoughts by leaning on Him and being in His word daily. Read my post 10 Bible Verses for Anxiety. Doing this wasn’t easy and it took time, prayer, and effort on my part to say NO to lies I was hearing and to start allowing God’s truths to permeate my life. By listening to the enemy’s lies I was not being able to live out my purpose for God, instead I was in a place of constant fear.

By taking care of our earthly body we have the potential to be God’s hands and feet here on earth. Our spiritual, physical, and mental health need to be aspects of self care that we evaluate on a regular basis. Exercise for the purpose of maintaining the health God has given you is not vain. It is one of the ways we can show God, and be a witness to others, that we care enough about the body we have. By keeping God at the center of everything we do, even exercising and at meal times, we are ensuring that our bodies do not become a stumbling block for us but another way to give glory back to God.

Make no mistake about this. Living an unhealthy lifestyle has the high probability of ensuring you less time with your loved ones and less time to make an impact for Christ to others.

THE BODY IS GOD’S TEMPLE.

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. -1 Corinthians 19:20

The Holy Spirit lives in you. Our bodies are a gift from God and do not belong to us. As Christians we need to realize that our bodies are on loan to us until heaven. If a friend loaned me an item that they greatly valued, they would expect me to return it to them in the same condition. They would be hurt and disappointed if I returned it to them destroyed. Shouldn’t we as Christ followers view our bodies with the same care and respect we would for a friends treasured belonging?

With social media and fitness magazines constantly blasting us with before and after pictures and telling us about the latest diet craze it can be challenging at times to remember that taking care of your body needs to remain rooted in God. NOT what the media says. If we rely on the quick fixes of this world we miss out on the power that comes from asking God to give us the spirit of self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

Today is the perfect day to start making healthy changes. Start small and don’t try to do everything all at once. Get out for a walk everyday, drink more water, up your veggie intake, or eat your meals at home. And just to clarify, eating meals at home means cooking the meals, not ordering in ;). Small daily changes over time can add up to huge health benefits a year from now. Most importantly remember this about your body…

God created. Jesus died for it. The Spirit lives in it. So we better take care of it. -Pastor Rick Warren