The Jesus Series: 20 Practical Steps to Live Like Jesus for Your Best Health

Hey there fit sister in Christ, I’m so excited to share this message with you. Today I’m going to share why Jesus is the answer to your fitness, and not just your fitness but food struggles, and worth issues associated with fitness.

Get out your journal because these scriptures and tips will create a breakthrough. This is the help and hope your heart needs.

Have you ever wondered…

- If God cares about your struggles with food and fitness?

- How to get your eating under control?

- Why it’s so hard to stay motivated?

- How to have a healthy body image?

- Why worldly fitness answers don’t work?

As our answer to fitness unfolds in this episode, we will see how Jesus cares about every detail of our lives—yes, even our fitness struggles. We’ll also learn that He gave us a helper, the Holy Spirit, why His plans for us are our greatest motivation, that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, and that the answers to our fitness issues are only found in Him.

You may be wondering how is Jesus the answer to my fitness? The reason is because of how He lived…

• He rose early.
• He spent time with His Father.
• He prayed about everything.
• He wasn’t lazy.
• He enjoyed food.
• He ate to live; He didn’t live to eat.
• He walked everywhere.
• He loved people.
• He came to serve.
• He wasn’t concerned with what others thought about Him.
• He lived for God and to fulfill the plan for His life.
• And He finished His race with endurance!

As a Jesus follower, I want to be like Him, learn from Him, and live for Him.

Following the way Jesus lived, imperfectly of course, but to the best of my ability was how I found answers.

If you’re new here, over 20 years ago, God helped me pull myself out of a pit of hopelessness and turn my tired, overweight, and out-of-shape life into one on a mission to teach Christ as the centerpiece of fitness. I never thought I would be doing what I’m doing, but God knew and He has plans for you too, friend. Plans that require you to own your part in your health.

Maybe like me, you’ve tried a lot of diets, but the results didn’t last. You’ve joined a gym, and bought home equipment, but the motivation has faded. And somewhere between dieting and skipped workouts, your confidence has suffered.

I know the desperation to want to lose weight, but not know where to start. I tried doing what the world offered, but my motivation never lasted. I stood on the scale and looked in the mirror and felt the shock of “How did I get here?” You too?

Friend, don’t be hard on yourself. You’re not alone in this struggle. Jesus not only cares about every detail of your fitness and wholeness, He gave you a helper, the Holy Spirit to guide you, comfort you, and strengthen you.

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” (John 14:26 NKJV)

The reason why fitness hasn’t worked out in the past.

Here’s a big aha moment, are you ready?

For those of us who follow Jesus, the reason fitness hasn’t worked in the past is that we’ve left Him out of it.

Think about it: how many times have you gone to church on Sunday, ate whatever you wanted that day, and then when Monday came, you promised to start your diet over and eat better, then turned to the world for your fitness answers?

For those of us who love Jesus, seeking answers apart from Him won’t work. God must be first in everything in our lives—every aspect. Wherever He’s not, will be a place of pain, confusion, and struggle.

Seeking God first gives Him His rightful place and teaches us a completely new perspective on taking care of ourselves.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33 NKJV)

Now, I’m not saying that if you seek God first in your fitness all of a sudden the weight will just fall off and your confidence will skyrocket. God is not some genie in a bottle or the new secret to fat loss. What I am saying is that if you put Him first and acknowledge Him in all your ways, He will give you wisdom and guide you to the right path to health.‌

God wants all of you, even your fitness journey.

Sometimes our limited understanding of God and our intense desire to reach a goal is the very thing keeping us from it. God wants all of us—our mind, body, and soul—living for Him. In doing so, we find the life He died to give us.

“Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.”(Luke 9:23-24 NKJV)

Giving God all of us and denying ourselves removes the flesh-driven spirit out of fitness and replaces it with a Spirit-led lifestyle. Fitness is more than eating and working out: it’s a battle of flesh and Spirit that worldly solutions can’t answer.

As Christians, we often follow people who aren’t following God, and when we do, their influence pollutes and distracts us from God’s plans for our lives. Truly, we shouldn’t be following anything or anyone who isn’t following Jesus, because their ways are not our ways. The success we’re looking for in our health and wholeness doesn’t come from others or ourselves; it comes from putting God first.

This is how we put God first in our fitness.

We seek Him. We spend time with Him and in His Word. We pray about everything. We choose not to be lazy or gluttonous. We eat the foods He made for us. We move our bodies. We choose to serve people through our gifts. We don’t concern ourselves with what others think of us. We live to fulfill His plan for us. We run our race with endurance.

We were made by God for God. We are not here for ourselves.

I’m going to give you a list, I love lists, of reasons that Jesus is the answer to Your fitness.

- God said if we acknowledge Him in all our ways, He will direct our paths.

- We have a helper, the Holy Spirit.

- We have the gifts of the Spirit,

- We have a savior who was tempted as we are. He understands us.

- We have power in His promises. There is power in the name of Jesus.

- We have strength beyond circumstances, The Joy of the Lord is our strength.

- We can have peace with ourselves now, not when we reach a goal.

- Our worth is hidden in Christ and no longer tied to numbers.

- Through Him, we can repair and find a healthy relationship with food.We can stop the cycle of undereating, overeating, stress eating, and bingeing because we go to God with our emotions and stop eating our emotions or numbing ourselves with food to cope with our problems.

- We are set free from valuing ourselves based on performance, so we don’t have to feel like failures.

- We can stop obsessing over the way our bodies look and actually take care of ourselves.

- We won’t think about food all the time.

- We stop believing the world has some magic answer to help us lose weight or get fit.

- We stop looking for quick-fix answers in pills, powders, and packaged food.

- We eat what God made for us with prayer and thanksgiving.

- We’re free in Christ to enjoy food without guilt and to feel good in our skin.

- When we fall off track, we run to the Word, and God picks us up in His grace.

- We invest in ourselves to do the work through a Spirit-led lifestyle for Kingdom purposes.

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.” (Psalm 32:8 NIV)

As we gain an understanding that Jesus is our answer to fitness, we find freedom from worldly standards and dieting schemes and satisfaction in how He formed us—uniquely and without mistake.

We enjoy the foods He made for our bodies with prayer and thanksgiving, and without obsessive dieting, overeating or undereating, which leads to emotional torment. We train our bodies toward health to fulfill the call He has on our lives rather than achieving an aesthetic ideal. And while our fit bodies and healthier lifestyles are side effects of this newly found lifestyle, His plans and purposes for us are where we thrive and find our lasting motivation and significance.

You Are Not Alone in Your Fitness Jesus is with you.

This is the answer our hearts have been looking for, because only God can meet each of us individually in our stories and give us the answers we need and the daily grace to keep going. In Him, we have power and access to the wisdom, strength, confidence, peace, and endurance to live fit lifestyles.

Making Jesus the Lord over our lives, including our fitness means we are done with the finish-line mentality. We are in it for the marathon of life. We walk our health out daily with God as our partner, and He changes us to become who we are meant to be in Christ. He refines us and renews our minds to see our world through His Word. Growing in the character and nature of God is what we can expect, and the physical changes that come from exercise and enjoying God-made foods are just added benefits.

This doesn’t have a tricky marketing scheme. There isn’t a restrictive plan or any reliance on a product. We rely on faith, on God’s promises. We eat God-made foods, and we bring our bodies under our control through Him.

God promises that, if you will seek Him, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

God is not a supplement to our life, and He isn’t a part of your fitness program; He is the heart of the matter. He is our focus, and He gives us the ability to walk in self-control. That is the freedom we are looking for, isn’t it? It’s a freedom that we won’t find in a diet that may or may not give us a perfect body for one week. It’s a lifelong commitment that never goes unreturned. It’s something that should be celebrated every step of the way because He is taking every step with us.

Fight for what Jesus died to give you in this life. You can’t live with old habits and see new results. Keep believing and rejoicing with every step forward, as you become a new you in Him.

‌**Faith Fuel**

“Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her.” (Luke 1:45 NIV)‌

“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16 NKJV)

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” ( John 14:6 NKJV)

Before you go, let’s pray…

Dear God,

My past attempts at getting healthy have been apart from You and they’ve never worked. I’ve struggled alone and it has felt impossible, but what has been impossible for me is possible with You (Luke 18:27). Your Word says that “if I trust in You and acknowledge You in all my ways, You will direct my path” (Proverbs 3:5–6). Father, I’m laying down my old ways and seeking You first in my fitness (Matthew 6:33). Guide me in the Holy Spirit and give me the steps. I’ve gone through things that have hurt me so badly that I have felt like I can’t or don’t deserve to succeed, but Your Word says that “because I love You, You will rescue me” (Psalm 91:14). Father, please save me from the lies the enemy wants me to believe. Your Word says that You will do a new thing (Isaiah 43:18). Help me take each step with You, starting today, so I can be the godly woman You made me to be.

In Jesus’s name, amen.

I hope you’ve enjoyed The Jesus Series, please go back and read What Did Jesus Eat and How to Invite Jesus into Your Fitness.

Remember you are Strong. Confident. His.