By Marsha Apsley
Katie and Charlene get together once a week at their gym to workout. That’s all their schedules allow with jobs, children, and other commitments. However, they stick to their fitness goals on their own the rest of the week. How? They have found that adding a fitness-focused devotional helps keep them motivated and connected. Their exercise time together is an intense hour of weights, cardio and more. Then they pray, read a devotional selection, discuss it and share concerns and celebrations — all together. It gives them motivation through the rest of the week knowing that the other is committed to strengthening not only her body but her faith as well.
You see, we were created for community. The Bible says “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” Women need support and encouragement from one another. We are better together. We want to know that we’re not alone. And our faith is important to us. Sometimes there’s just not enough time to do it all. A devotional that addresses both faith and fitness can help. They can be a simple tool to help our workouts more thoroughly be an act of worship.
What To Look For In A Women’s Fitness Devotional
- Scripture focus
- Emphasis on healthy living rather than achieving a number on a scale
- Action steps to live out our faith on this fitness journey
- Content that is easy to consume for the busy days
A fitness devotional can be used in several different ways. You might use it as part of your morning quiet time. It can be part of a women’s study group. A fitness devotional can help us focus our minds on God’s truth and how He feels about us so that we approach our healthy lifestyle with a faith focus. When we include journaling as part of our devotional time, it strengthens our faith and helps us become more aware of what God is doing in our lives. A journal can help you blog your way to better health. It is something we can share with our daughters or those close to us to encourage them on their journey now or in the future.
40 Days of Faith and Fitness combines many of the aspects listed above.
It includes a daily verse that sheds the light of God’s truth on who we are. There is a prayer that you can use in your morning quiet time followed by a daily action step. The action step is helpful for you and provides a way to connect you to others going through the devotional with you.
Finally, there is a page at the end of each day so that you can journal your thoughts. Use this space in whatever way God prompts you.
I’ve included two sample devotionals from my book for you to use now:
DEVOTIONAL – PresentYourselfToGod
More Women’s Fitness Devotionals
- Made to Crave Devotional by Lysa TerKeurst – This 60 day devotional breaks down the highlights of Lysa’s book with the same title to help you crave God and not food.
- Run for God Devotions – This is a 52 week devotional that includes stories written by the everyday person about their journey to finding fitness, mostly through running.
- The Body Tithe Devotional by Matthew Pryor – This 90 day devotional is separated into 13 weeks, each with a weekly theme that includes a daily prayer, meditation, and a spiritual exercise.
Daily devotionals have been part of my life since I was a young girl. My morning devotion provides me with a nugget of God’s truth that I can take into my day. Many of us desire to live healthy lives and also faith-filled lives. With a women’s fitness devotional we can put those two priorities together and build a healthy life on a foundation of faith.
Like Katie and Charlene, you too can honor God by honoring your body and find fitness motivation beyond a number on a scale.
