Today, we're pleased to share with you an audio essay written and read by David Mathis,

entitled Five Considerations When Making Resolutions About Exercise.

David is the author of A Little Theology of Exercise, Enjoying Christ in Body and Soul from Crossway.

Jesus. Jesus, help me exercise.

Five considerations when making resolutions.

Written and read by David Mathis.

Far and away, most New Year's resolutions have to do with our bodies. We see them in the mirror

and we wish to improve them. Or we feel them holding us back in everyday life and we want to move

them more effortlessly, tirelessly, and enjoyably. It need not be vain or shallow for Christians

to make fresh resolves about our bodies.

And we shouldn't assume that such resolutions are only for the body.

God made us soul and body and designed our bodies and souls to flourish in profound relation.

We all know how going without sleep can affect our inner selves. So too,

spiritual highs and lows affect our bodies. Christian theology does not separate the soul and body

and pretend that only the soul matters. We believe the body counts. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the

Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? Your body, now the dwelling place of God himself

in his spirit, really matters. So, glorify God in your body.

So for Christians resolve to cultivate new exercise and bodily training habits, how might we seek to glorify our God not apart from these bodies, but in these bodies?

I offer five inputs to form and feed your journey.

Number one, do something.

So many 21st century jobs are sedentary.

We peck away at our computers rather than lifting, moving, pulling, and hoisting.

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