Love Worth Finding

Guest (Male): It's a sobering thought to think we don't value good health until it's gone. Listen closely to Adrian Rogers.

Adrian Rogers: Now, it's a funny thing about health. We value money more than health. Money is the most envied, but it is the least enjoyed. Health is the least envied, but it is the most enjoyed, that is until you lose it.

When the wealthy man loses his health, then he would give all of his wealth to get his health back. But he doesn't think about that health I'm talking about, the simple principles of family fitness.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Love Worth Finding featuring timeless messages from pastor, teacher and author Adrian Rogers. In part one of today's message, Pastor Rogers revealed that scripture instructs us to take care of our bodies as if they are temples of God.

Though we may have some physical ailments that are out of our control, we are responsible for maintaining what we can control. Family fitness is a matter of discipline in our diet, our exercise and rest. And it's a matter of disposition. We must choose joy in every circumstance, guard our hearts and minds from stress.

If you have your Bible, turn to 1st Corinthians Chapter 6, verse 19 as Adrian Rogers concludes a convicting message, Family Fitness.

Adrian Rogers: Now, it's very, very important your family thinks about your family being fit. Because when you naturally, willingly violate the laws that God has laid down in his Bible—I'm talking about natural laws—if you're not careful, you will become a burden to yourself and a burden to your family, and your family will become a burden to other people.

You see, God tells us that your mind, your soul is to rule your body just as your spirit rules your soul. Your body really is a servant. But if you abuse that servant—if you abuse your servant, that is your body—your body may rise up and smite you for it.

Your body is very unforgiving. Now, most folks value money more than they value health. Isn't that true? They value money more than they value health. We value things more than we value health until we lose our health.

So many people spend the first half of their lives accumulating their wealth by wasting their health. Then they spend the last half of their life spending their wealth trying to get their health back. And they're unhappy in both halves of their lives.

Now, it's a funny thing about health. We value money more than health. Money is the most envied, but it is the least enjoyed. Health is the least envied, but it is the most enjoyed, that is until you lose it.

When the wealthy man loses his health, then he would give all of his wealth to get his health back. But he doesn't think about that health I'm talking about, the simple principles of family fitness.

Now, I am not a doctor, and I thank God for doctors. I believe in doctors. I have a personal physician that I love very much. And Jesus said they that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. Luke was called the beloved physician, and I thank God for what doctors can do.

But you know what many of us are trying to do? We're trying to break God's natural laws and then go to the doctor and try to get him to put the scrambled eggs back in the shell. We're trying to get him to undo what we have done, and that's not the purpose of medicine.

Now let me give you four principles for family fitness. Are you ready for these? Number one, family fitness is a matter of discipline. Now we call ourselves disciples. Well, the word disciple and the word discipline are linked together. We cannot call ourselves a disciple if we're not disciplined.

For example, we need to be disciplined in matters of diet, in the things that we eat. Many of us fail to understand that we are breaking God's laws concerning what we eat. Now, you may think that the Bible doesn't say much about what we eat, but the Bible has much to say about what we eat.

And also the Bible gives us an injunction in 1st Corinthians Chapter 10, verse 31, which says, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." That ought to be put in our kitchens, maybe on your refrigerator. Whatever we eat, whatever we drink, do all to the glory of God.

The Bible says if your man given to gluttony, put a knife to your throat if you're a man given to appetite. But not only do we need to be disciplined in what we eat, we need to be disciplined in our exercise. Put down 1st Timothy Chapter 4, verse 8.

The Bible says, "For bodily exercise profiteth little." Now, some people have taken that as an excuse not to exercise, but that's not what he's saying. He's saying there is profit in exercise. He's saying that godliness is more profitable, but he's not saying that exercise is not profitable.

Walking is the perfect exercise, and if you want to do more, fine. But there needs to be a discipline in the matter of diet, a discipline in the matter of exercise. You need to get your kids out. You need to get out yourself, Daddy.

Then there needs to be a discipline in the matter of rest. Psalm 127 and verse 2 says, "It is vain for you to rise up early, to stay up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for he giveth his beloved sleep." It literally says he's giving to you while you sleep. That is, you are taking care of business while you are asleep.

Just think of those simple things: diet, exercise, and rest. That's just the ABCs. We need to be disciplined in all of these things. Now, here's the second thing. Family fitness is a matter of discipline. Number two, family fitness is a matter of disposition. That's the second thing. It's a matter of disposition.

Hardening of the attitudes is just as bad as hardening of the arteries. Listen to Proverbs 15, verse 17. "Better is a dinner of herbs"—that is a vegetable plate—"where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith." A vegetable plate is better than a filet mignon if you have that vegetable plate with love, rather than that hefty steak where there's hatefulness there.

Disposition, emotions, emotional health. I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Your soul is your psyche. The Greek word for soul is psyche. It's the word we get psychology from, psychiatry, psychic from.

You see, it's the seat of your emotions. And there are two kinds of emotions: positive and negative, healthy and unhealthy. Well, you say, "I can't help my emotions." Yes, you can. You can choose your emotions like you can choose your friends.

Listen to what the Bible says in Philippians Chapter 4, verses 7 and following. He speaks of the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Literally, guard your hearts, guard your minds, God's peace.

And then he says this, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." You can choose your thoughts like you choose your friends.

I woke up the other night with a negative thought. I said, "I refuse that in the name of Jesus. Lord Jesus, I praise you," and went back to sleep. Why let the devil mess with your mind? You can choose your thoughts. You can reject bad thoughts and choose your attitudes. To rejoice is a choice.

If your disposition gets upset, let me tell you what's going to happen to you. You're going to have an upset stomach, headaches, family arguments. You're going to have a dull memory. You're going to cripple your thinking. You're going to weaken your body. You're going to reduce your efficiency.

I'm talking about negative stress, not positive stress. There's a good positive stress. You don't need to be just a dish rag. But I'm talking about negative emotions. Stress does great damage to the temple. Not every ulcer is caused by stress, but many are.

And not only can stress bring on those ulcers, but heart problems. Cardiologists tell you that if you're a Type A individual, you have a greater opportunity for a heart attack. What's a Type A person? Well, he's ambitious, aggressive, self-demanding, competitive, constantly striving for success, driven by the clock.

And it doesn't have to be a man; it can be a woman. One man said, "I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. When I came back, my wife had made up the bed." Type A people are seven times more likely to have a heart attack than Type B individuals.

Now, if you're a Type A person, that's good because you'll achieve a whole lot. But you need to learn how to rest in the Lord. Physicians have long suspected that stress brings on some cancers. And the mind is the center of stress. My former doctor told me one day, he said, "Pastor, all stress is self-imposed."

All stress is self-imposed. I mean, you have to agree to it in order to have it. The doctors talk about a psychosomatic illness. 'Psycho' is the mind, 'soma' is the body. It is the mind making the body sick. You say, "Well, I don't believe my mind really affects my body." Oh, yes, it does.

What you think affects the amount of blood that flows to any organ. What you think affects the secretion of the glands in your body. What you think affects the tension in the muscles. Let me illustrate what I'm talking about. Have you ever seen someone blush?

What causes a person to blush? Because of what they've thought about. Embarrassment causes the blood vessels in the face and the neck to open up and the face turns red. What they think has affected their bodies. If you have anxiety, you're going to cause blood to rush to your head and your skull is very hard and it doesn't give and you've got a headache there.

Fear, it causes the salivary glands to dry up. Have you ever seen a speaker get up and put a glass of water there and talk and drink and talk and drink? His mouth gets dry kind of like a windmill pumping over a dry hole and he's just drinking and talking.

Why? Because he's terrified of standing up there to speak. The mind is controlling the body. The muscles tighten when you are filled with fear or frightened or angry, and that causes pain. If you just take your fist and just clinch it, you won't feel any pain. But just clinch it and keep it there long enough.

And you won't be able to keep it clinched for very long. You're going to have to let it go because it's going to begin to hurt. Have a pain in the neck? Well, so often that's because you have a problem in your mind. Worry, they tell us, can cause arthritis. You can worry yourself stiff.

Listen, it is a matter not only of discipline, it is a matter of disposition. Douglas MacArthur—boy, give us some more men like Douglas MacArthur. Douglas MacArthur had this hanging on the wall of his office:

"Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind. It is not a matter of red cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotion. It is a freshness of the deep springs of life. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, doubt, self-distrust, fear and despair, these are the long, long, long years that bow the head and turn the growing spirit back to dust."

And then the great general said, "You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair." Why do we have stress? Stress is that gap between our strength and the demands that are put upon us.

And we all feel that. That's the reason the Bible says in Isaiah Chapter 40, verses 28 and following, "Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not?" God never passes out, neither is weary. God never gets tired.

There's no searching of his understanding. God is never perplexed. He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall; but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.

The word literally means they shall exchange their strength, their weakness for his strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint. I believe that what you need to do is to take your family.

You need to sit down and say, "Are we a family living under stress? What is the disposition of our family?" And we need to find those things that are stressing your family. Those things that you're doing that are wrong, repent of them. Turn your life over to the Lord. Wait upon the Lord.

That may sound simplistic, but friend, it'll work. Now here's a third thing. Now watch. Family fitness is a matter of discipline. Family fitness is a matter of disposition. Thirdly, family fitness is a matter of devotion. Devotion. It is a matter of devotion.

That is, when you love God, when you serve God, you're going to be healthier. You know, we've been told in the Bible that the fear of the Lord adds years to life. And we need to understand that. I was reading an article by Mary Anne Herring. The title of the article: Believe Well and Live Well.

I want to quote: "Pick out any man out of a church pew on Sunday morning and liken him to a neighbor who is still at home, pouring through the two-pound Sunday newspaper in his easy chair. Let's say the two are the same age and are in comparable salary. Neither of them smokes, drinks or plays the lottery. Both floss their teeth, collect baseball cards and enjoy cheesecake. Which man will live longer and enjoy the benefits of a stable marriage? Answer: The man or woman in the pew."

In recent years, scientific research is backing up what common sense has told us for years. Mainly that churchgoers live longer, stay married and feel happier than those who say they don't believe in God. That's just a scientific fact they're telling us now. The secret is out. Faith, religion is good for your health.

But science is just verifying what the scriptures have told us for years. In a 1987 review by Levin and Vanderpool, Social Science Medicine—that's the title of the review—reported that in 22 of 27 studies, the more often a person went to church, the better his or her health.

That's just devotion. Just coming to church, just praising God, loving God. Make your family fit. It's an amazing thing, but that's what the Bible has told us, that faith is good for family fitness. God wants your family fit. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. You are fearfully and wonderfully made machine.

There's some reasons why you may be sick that you can't control, but there other things that you can control and you should control. Now, here's the final thing. Family fitness is a matter of decision. Now here I left this till last because if you get these facts down and you don't make any decision, so what?

I don't want you just to get these facts down. I want them to get in your head and in your heart and there has to be a decision. And I believe that you need to have a family council. Those of you who are parents with little children, you need to sit down and if there's a father in the family, he needs to take charge of it. If not a father, then mother, you need to take charge.

But listen to Joshua Chapter 24, verse 15. Joshua is talking to the children of Israel and he says this, "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

It's a matter of decision. It is a matter of decision. And how do you serve the Lord? I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It deals with the body in discipline. It deals with the soul in disposition. It deals with the spirit in devotion.

But you have to make a choice. You have to say, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Now there were other gods who were calling upon the Israelites. There were the gods that they knew back in Egypt. Then there were the gods of the Amorites in whose land they dwell.

And what Joshua is saying: look around. Look at these other gods, look at these other philosophies. Look at them. Then look at Jehovah God. You know what God is saying? He said you bring your best gods out, I'll beat them all. I'll beat them all.

You bring all these philosophies, all these other people around there and he says, "Now look, here's what they believe, here's what they do, here's what their life." But he says, "Listen, you're going to have to choose. Choose who you're going to serve." You're free to choose, but you're not free not to choose.

Not to choose is a choice. You're free to choose. You're not free not to choose and you're not free to choose the consequences of your choice. That's very important. You're free to choose. You're not free not to choose, but you're not free to choose the consequences of your choice. Once you make a choice, then your choice chooses for you.

Now what you need to do is to look at your family and say, "Listen, what is this we're eating? What is this we're doing? What is this we're thinking? Are we going to continue to live this way, or are we going to make a decision as a family? Some family fitness so that we might be a testimony to our neighbors and those around us."

We ought to be different. Our families ought to stand out in matters of faith, in matters of fun, in matters of finance, and in matters of fitness. Our families ought to be different. Don't you believe that? I do. But you see, if you just hear this and don't make a decision, what good is it going to do you whatever?

Now, if you think that I'm just talking to you about being healthy and physically strong and that's all, you missed it a thousand miles. What difference would it make if you live to be a serene old man or woman with the bloom of health on you and then you died?

What difference would it make if you died in a modern hospital with the aid of drugs, no pain at all and died with a smile on your face? What difference would it make if they had a big funeral and all of the high-muck-a-mucks of society came to your funeral and there you are in a beautiful bronze casket?

And the undertaker's done such a great job on you. What difference would it make if they carry you out and put you in a grave as beautiful as any park and festooned that grave with flowers? I say what difference would it make if you rise in the judgment and meet a God that you do not know with your sins unconfessed and unforgiven?

I am not talking about mere physical health. And I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God wants you saved so much that he sent his darling Son to pay for your sin with his blood on that cross.

And I promise you on the authority of the word of God, if you will trust Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, he will forgive your sin. I promise you he will. And he'll save you today if you'll ask him. I invite you to pray this way out of your heart, sincerely, fervently.

Dear God, I know that you love me. And I know that you want to save me. Jesus, you died to save me, and you promised to save me if I would trust you. I do trust you, Jesus. Right now, this moment, with all of my heart, come into my heart.

I invite you in. Take control of my life. I turn it over to you. Begin now to make me the person you want me to be. Save me, Lord Jesus. Help me never to be ashamed of you. In your name I pray. Amen.

Guest (Male): If you prayed to receive Jesus Christ just now, we would love to celebrate you and invite you to our Discover Jesus page. There at the website you'll find answers you may need about your newfound faith. There's a response section; you can reach out to us, share your testimony or how this message impacted you. Just go to LWF.org/radio and click on the tab at the top that says Discover Jesus. Welcome to God's forever family. Let us hear from you today.

Cary Vaughn: Hi, this is Cary Vaughn, and this program has been brought to you by Love Worth Finding, a non-profit ministry showcasing the powerful preaching and teaching of Pastor Adrian Rogers. We operate solely through the generous gifts of individual supporters just like you.

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