The other day while I was at the gym, I had a thought cross my mind. In fact, the thought was about my mind. As I lifted __ pounds of iron without hardly breaking a sweat, I got to thinking about how our minds are kind of like our muscles. When we work them out, exercise them, and challenge them, they develop and grow stronger and we are better off for it. On the flip side, if we let them take it easy all the time and only tackle what’s within — or below — our comfort zone, they remain weak and progress becomes stagnant. If we feed them a balanced, nutritional diet with only an occasional allowance for something less healthy, they are given the dietary support they need in order to complement our exercise program. If all they get is junk, they return the favor and make us think and feel like junk. So what’s a body (or mind) to do?
Obviously, the most comfortable way is the easy way. Just stay in your comfort zone and hit the automatic button for an everyday, predictable routine. No challenges, no pain – and no growth. This approach might appear to be comfortable, but in the end it actually bites back. You feel sluggish, rotten, and possibly depressed. Eventually, you might get to the point where you decide to bite the bullet and start making changes. I can remember the days leading up to my purchasing a gym membership. I had been dissatisfied with how out of shape I was, and sporadic workouts weren’t getting the job done. I knew that if I wanted to get results, something had to change. So I joined a local gym and got a workout routine going. The results didn’t come as fast as I would have liked, but they eventually did come. Now I wouldn’t even consider trading them for the previous condition I had simply accepted for so long.
Our minds clearly can’t get physical exercise, but there are other ways that they can be exerted. Turn off the TV, take a vacation from the computer, and unplug the iPod. Granted, there are certain programs, internet articles, music, etc. that do succeed in engaging the mind on a challenging level, but they aren’t very common. Try to get into a reading routine, especially with books that are above your reading level. A particularly refreshing and challenging pursuit can be found in studying and memorizing Biblical passages. Read some of the works by the early church fathers and other authoritative Christian authors (St. Augustine, Thomas à Kempis, William Wilberforce, C.S. Lewis, etc.) Good literature can often be the equivalent of a full body workout for the mind. But don’t just stop with literature. Though they may not be in the majority, there are some examples in the electronic realm of music, websites, and videos that are also capable of exercising the mind. Don’t just settle for post-digested content that you only have to absorb. Search out stuff that requires you to work before you can understand the message. If music, look for complex (and definitely morally sound) lyrics that cause you to think about the message the artist is trying to convey. If websites, don’t waste a lot of time surfing through trivial information that won’t matter in a couple of hours. Look for some blogs or resources where you can be intellectually encouraged in your Christian walk. If videos/movies, challenge yourself to determine the message that a director is embedding in his film or, if you want to be really unorthodox, watch (or listen to) some quality lectures or sermons on a particular topic that interests you.
Exercising and challenging your mind is not an easy thing to do, especially with discipline. I’ll be the first to say that I fall short in consistently applying myself toward mental workouts. Physical and mental fitness, as good as they are, can’t be purchased cheap. The price is steep and the work is intense, but the rewards surpass the exertion. I may not be anywhere near the level of mental fitness that I want to be, but the compensation I’ve received for what little work I have put forward has been encouraging. I’m more able to identify underlying agendas in media and literature, more appreciative of difficult books and teaching, and more aware of how my Christian faith applies to the world around me. Exercising my mind has not been especially easy and there have been times when I haven’t considered it as important as it truly is, but just like with my experience with the gym, I wouldn’t even consider tolerating what I had before. Working out our minds is an awesome privilege that God has given us, and we need to be sure to take advantage of all the opportunities we have to develop it for His glory.
