Dear gym rats,
If someone were to ask you,
"Why do you like working out so much?",
how would you respond? Think about it. Respond in your head.
To those who do not enjoy working out in any way, shape, or form, why do you think some others work out so much? Go on, answer in your head. Or out loud. That might be a little weird, but whatever floats your boat.
I am just going to guess that in your train of thought, the word, "confidence", came up, or perhaps a branched-out version of it such as "self-confidence", "self-esteem", something like that. Was I right? I know, for me, that word, confidence, came to my mind!
Now, what if I were to tell you that, as a child of God, confidence is really not all it is cracked up to be.
What if I said that confidence really should not be part of that "why" statement at all? When I am talking about confidence right now, I am referring to SELF-confidence. Keep that in mind. Perhaps you are scoffing at your screen right now, why on earth would I cut down that wonderful word, "confidence"? Isn't confidence so crucial to have, not only in the gym, but in virtually every aspect of life?
I once believed that too!
(If you are already thinking, "No, you do not need that", well then look at you thinking ahead.) ;-)
Growing up, I was an avid reader and many of the books I read were these guides on building self-esteem and confidence. Call me a nerd, but I struggled with feeling inadequate for years. For a girl who felt tall, clumsy and awkward, wouldn't you think gaining some confidence was the way to go? That is what I pursued, and it only built itself up even more when I started playing basketball in high school. I played for a Christian school, and the word confidence was everywhere. I could hear it from my coach. My teammates. Any and every online resource I looked to for learning more about the love of the sport. It was the foundation of all the motivational quotes on my bedroom wall. Needless to say, I was driven by my self-confidence.
Later on, I started running. As many of you already know, it started with 5ks. Then 10ks. Then a Half-Marathon. Then a Marathon, and I still love to run and hope to run farther one day. Why do I love to run? Aw, yes, upon the many reasons I could list, "confidence" was definitely a big one.
When I took online classes for personal training, I was taught to uplift confidence and encourage it in others when working out at the gym. In the fitness world, confidence drives essentially every benefit received from working out. What does a balanced diet, a healthy body, a strong physique instill in someone? Yes, confidence. You can fancy up the wording, but that really is what it boils down to. That is the why statement I have been believing for years!
Growing up in church, I was also taught about the sin of pride. Proverbs 16:18 says, "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall". James says that "God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble" (4:6), and there are countless other verses. Understanding the danger of pride, which essentially means putting myself above God and His will (as well as putting myself above others), I disassociated the terms pride and self-confidence because the former was sinful and the latter was good. Or so I thought.
Okay, I am finally reaching the point. Part of me dreads typing this one out because I know many of you who will feel that punch in the gut reading this, just as I did upon this realization:
Self-confidence is not compatible with the life of the believer. Self-confidence is pride.
Yikes! Stay with me! Hopefully, after reading my background on how I believed quite the opposite beforehand, you will hear me out about this.
Google defines self-confidence as,
a feeling of trust in one's abilities, qualities, and judgment.
Let's apply this to that question I asked when you started reading this post. When someone asks, "Why do you like working out so much?", and I respond with something like, "Being fit gives me confidence!", what I am actually saying is, "Being fit gives me trust in my abilities, qualities, and judgement". I could translate this into meaning my athletic abilities, my physical qualities (i.e. that golden physique and figure), and how I judge myself/how others judge me.
Realizing this made my mouth drop. Why? Because I should know better than to place trust in myself! The Bible tells me I can do nothing without Christ's strength (John 15:4-5). The Bible tells me that all my qualities are evil outside of God's saving grace, and my heart is deceitful (Jeremiah 17:). How can I trust myself? I cannot. Even with merely physical capabilities, I still cannot trust in myself because my body is not mine. If the Lord wills, the very breath of my life can be taken away before tomorrow. What would my fitness mean to me then? If I cannot place confidence in myself, I know I cannot place my confidence in others. We are all human, so we all fail. Is that not a rocky foundation to be trusting in? Yet, this is what we do all the time because our culture, even our own deceitful hearts, tell us to do that in the name of CONFIDENCE.
The only One deserving my confidence, my full trust, is God Himself.
His abilities are unsearchable (Ephesians 3:20). His qualities are perfect and holy (Psalm 18:80). His judgement is righteous (Psalm 89:14). My God is the unshakable Rock in the midst of a very shaky world, so I ought to hold on to that Rock instead of myself.
Thinking, then, on that new definition of confidence seen in Biblical faith, it needs to apply to fitness as well. This brings me to a further thought: confidence is something that is expressed. Going by the world's standard of confidence in my physical fitness, I would be encouraged to express it by flaunting my achievements, wearing clothing to shows off the physique I worked for, or even just acting and talking in a way that puts that spotlight on myself. This is pride. This is self-confidence. However, a Christian's expression of confidence should be putting the spotlight on God and not oneself, and that does not change in the gym!
We can brag and flaunt all we want about our athleticism, but it is God that gave us the ability to do any of that in the first place. We need to give credit to whom credit is due! Paul David Tripp differentiates pride (self-confidence) and (God-centered) confidence well,
"...pride takes credit for what it could not achieve on its own, while confidence stands strong because it recognizes the power and presence of One greater".
How about I ask that question, from earlier, to myself again, "Why do you like working out so much?" Here is my new answer: practicing a healthy lifestyle, including regular exercise, equips me physically and mentally to serve God and others in a variety of capacities that I would otherwise not be able to do if I were deficient in my health. I have more stamina, strength and energy to set out to do whatever God is calling for me to do. That being said, I also LOVE to exercise more often than some others simply because it is fun. God gives us athleticism to enjoy. God even compares the discipline of the believer's life to that of a runner in a race, striving to claim the prize (1 Corinthians 9.24, Galatians 2:2, Philippians 2:16, Philippians 3:14, and so on), therefore, athletic discipline is a respectable (and pretty awesome) pursuit.
However, the warning lies in when our athletic goals and achievements take first place while God's will for us goes on the back burner. This is where confidence becomes more self-focused than God-focused. Like I said before, being physically fit can be an equipping tool for serving God and can be something fun to enjoy, but I think we can all agree doing squats and bench presses is not directly furthering God's kingdom, as we are called to do.
We need to keep our priorities in check, and we need to keep our confidence fixated on Him.
To my fellow believers, whether you are a gym rat or not, I challenge you to figure out where your confidence lies. Challenge your perspective on the meaning of self-confidence. I hope you took my words out of love and not judgement as I was convicted myself typing them out.
If you are not a saved Christian, I pray that God would open your eyes to see Him for who He truly is and your need for Christ's saving and transforming grace in your life. If you have any questions, let me know! Only God can bring about true and lasting change in our lives, and we all so desperately need it.
Thank you for taking the time to read this! I pray that the words I wrote are in line with God's will and instruction, and I pray for forgiveness in anything that falls short of that. Let me know if you have questions/comments!
-Grace B.
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