Stay Toned Up

When we tone up our bodies we are getting them into shape to make us stronger physically. We do this by exercising, eating right and staying away from things that will hurt our bodies. By toning up our bodies, we are getting rid of the fat and strengthening our muscles to prepare ourselves for better health. When we overdo, our bodies tell us it’s time to slow down just as when we don’t do enough our bodies tend to run down. We should get into a routine of exercise and create healthy habits to ensure we are taking care of our bodies.

What about our minds? Are we taking the necessary steps to maintain a healthy mind? What type of things should we do to keep our minds toned up? Do we practice good exercise with our minds so we have a functional working mind for God and know what to do when we are faced with a problem? We want to tone our minds so we can get rid of the unwanted thoughts and desires and strengthen our brains to prepare ourselves for a better attitude toward others and so we are not so hard on ourselves all the time.

Romans 8:6 “So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.”

Just as we tone our bodies, we need to tone our minds. We should exercise it, feed it the right things and give it the rest it needs. Toning up our minds is an important step because we are continuously thinking about something and making choices. Becoming more aware of what we think will help us to be more positive and motivated to do things that will help others and be more in line with what God wants us to do.

Exercising our minds involves doing things that will help increase our memory and solve problems. We can exercise by doing puzzles or word games, brainstorm about an idea or work on our memorization. When we work toward keeping our minds alert through exercise, we are able to think clearer and quicker. We improve our mental agility.

Feeding our brains is important because we need to be sure what we are putting in our brains is good information and not bad. The more good we put into our brains, the more positive we can become, especially about those things that hit us when we least expect it. We should feed our brains by reading good books, listening to motivating CDs and talking to people who are more positive about life than negative.

Relaxation is an important piece to having a healthy mind. Some people find practicing yoga or meditation helps them to refocus and have peace. We all need to spend some quiet time alone where there are no distractions and just let our mind relax. We need to put everything out of our minds and just be. When we take time away from the hectic part of our lives, we come back refreshed and ready and more creative than we were before.

All of these techniques will work better for us if we know the importance of living the right life for God. We can’t properly take care of our minds without Jesus in our life. He can provide the exercise we need for our minds by giving us problems to work out and by looking for the answers in His word. We can use His word to exercise and feed our minds. We can stretch our memory by memorizing His word. Finally, we can pray and spend quiet time with God so we know we are doing what He wants us to do. God will protect us and He can help us tone our minds if we fill our minds with His words and wisdom.