In my group fitness classes I am constantly telling my class to “brace their core”. I’m always stressing the importance of exercises that will strengthen those all-important core muscles that run the length of our torso. These core muscles need to be strong because they support our spine, pelvis and shoulders! It’s important we do exercises to strengthen them to protect our bodies from injury, improve our posture, and stabilize us with a solid base! One of my favorite sayings during class at the gym is “ strong core, strong YOU!” So true! This is also true spiritually. We have to strengthen our spiritual core as well! In Ephesians 6 we read about how we need to put on the whole armor of God! It describes each spiritual piece of armor we need to live a victorious Christian life! Interestingly, the first piece of armor described is the belt of truth. Ephesians 6:14a says “Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth...” Before anything else, spiritually speaking, we must stand with the truth firmly fastened around our core! In order to stand... we must know the truth, and it has to be what is supporting us, stabilizing us with a solid base! Our core is where we have our guiding set of beliefs, our values. We can look for “truth” everywhere... in the news, on social media, even other people, but we will only find the solid truth that will support us and protect us in the one place you can count on for 100% truth 100% of the time.. and that is the Word of God! This is what will keep us strong and unwavering in the face of whatever comes our way! This is the solid truth we can cling to, when everything else seems to shift and change. In order to stand on the truth and have it firmly holding up our core, we have to know it!
Proverbs 3:5-8 says it better than I ever could on how we can strengthen our spiritual core! I feel like it tells us directly how we can STAND even when things around us might be falling apart. It tells us how we can stay on the right path, not wandering off into danger... how we can be strong in Him, even in our weakest moments. It tells us “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones.” The Bible tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom! Basically, to me, this is saying that I need to look to Him for the truth, I need to trust Him and rely on Him in everything in my life! I need to acknowledge that there is a God and I am not him! This world and everything about it changes with time, but God is the same yesterday, today and forever! My feelings and emotions can be fickle... so my core must be strong in the truth of His Word and complete trust in Him with my life! We will all face difficult times in our life; we will face temptation and trials. Our core needs to be braced to stand. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand! Brace your core!
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