Bodily Exercise Profits a Little

1 Timothy 4:8a

The context for this tidbit of wisdom is the following exhortation by the apostle Paul (1 Timothy 4:7-8):

“But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.”

Clearly Paul is focusing on the absolute necessity of godliness as well as the superiority of godliness over that of physical exercise. Nevertheless, Paul didn’t write in a negative sense about physical exercise. On the contrary, he was inspired to write that bodily exercise is, at least to a small extent, profitable. Therefore, Christians should take this comment by Paul seriously.

The word for exercise used by Paul in 1 Timothy 4:8 — gumnasia — literally means “training” (per Strong’s Greek #1128) and is the root for the word gymnasium in English. Therefore, Paul is indicating that physical training (perhaps even regularly at a gym!) has some profit for the body. The question is: why? Although the answer isn’t explicitly answered in Scripture, there are several passages from which good reasons for physical exercise can be inferred. For example (1 Corinthians 6:19-20):

“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

Christians have the awesome privilege of being temples of the Holy Spirit; therefore, we need to glorify God in and through our bodies. Now, this isn’t a call to narcissism. However, as Christians are called to humble service (see Humility, Service and Salvation), it’s important to recognize that it’s much easier and productive to serve others with a physically fit body that facilitates manual labor, rather than with a physically unfit body which itself hinders your ability to serve, or requires the redirection of other Christian ministry resources to attend to your own personal physical limitations.

Therefore, if you’re physically unfit and capable of physical exercise, prayerfully consider how you may train your body to improve your physical fitness and enhance your ministry to others, and then start training!