Vanity

1 Timothy 4: 7-8 - "On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come."

Since it is the summer break and I have nothing to do besides work 40 hours a week, I have been working out more than I normally do. Now, this is not really a bad thing but it does have potential to be harmful, not to my physical self but to my spiritual one. People who know me understand that when I start doing something, I throw myself completely into it. Like for instance, when I am reading a pretty engrossing book it is very hard to get my attention or that I do not like to be interrupted when I am watching a movie. I think this is because when I am doing something that really interests me, I do not want to miss even one little aspect of it. Now how does this pertain to working out you say, well I think that, for me, it is easy to fall into the temptation of letting working out become so important to me that I lose sight of what is really important. That is why the verse in 1st Timothy really connects with me. When I pursue godliness above all else, and in turn Christ himself, my priorities do not stray from where they should be, but when I begin to pursue something else with greater gusto than I pursue godliness, my priorities get screwed up. This, in turn, leads to struggles in my relationship with the Lord, Bonnie, my family, friends, and sin. This directs me to the reason for the title of this post, vanity. We always hear of women struggling with vanity and self image, but I think that this is just as much a problem with guys as it is with girls. It all stems from a desire to have other people think highly of us and I think that the Lord has kept me a little on the chubby side the last 4 years because of the ease with which I struggle with what people think of me. I do believe that the Lord is leading me away from this sin and has been for the last 4 or 5 months, which is awesome.

Well, that's about all I've got except that I am going to see the new Harry Potter movie, don't freaking laugh, and I am excited about it.