Our bodies need adequate nutrition and exercise for high-level performance. We must train and provide it with what it needs. Our souls function in the same way – needing both diet and exercise to thrive.
Diet
Our souls are constantly fed by everything we consume – from the music we listen to, the shows we watch, and the conversations we participate in.
Even passively, we’re bombarded with news, information, and various public opinions that subtly shape our inner world. We don’t always get to choose the menu our soul feeds from.
But we still have an active role to play and must intentionally choose what we consume.
This does not require us to consume only things with a PG rating per se. We cannot grow into the fullness of our strength on a diet of baby’s milk. At some point, we need solid food.
But is does call for more purposeful consumption. And rather than settling for whatever is convenient, we must intentionally prepare a healthy and robust diet.
Perhaps we find music, films, thoughts, and conversations that challenge us and lead to transformation – no longer settling for the cheap, unsavory, or merely convenient meals for our soul.
Exercise
Excellence is not achieved by eating right and sitting on the couch all day. We must also get up and move.
It’s not enough to consume all the “right” things if this doesn’t also translate into meaningful action.
For example, listening to a sermon every Sunday is less important than exercising our faith and putting love into practice. The sermon might nourish us in many ways, but we still miss the mark if we don’t work out what was worked into our souls.
We’ve been called to impact the world for good. And we must feed our souls well and give it proper exercise in order to fulfill this calling.
Diet and exercise is not just for our bodies. It’s also for our souls.
