Bodybuilding (Part 1)

Outline is attached below

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Bodybuilding (Part 1) I. Questions 1. What does the Bible say about bodybuilding? 2. Can a Christian be a bodybuilder? 3. When does bodybuilding become sinful? 4. What things should a Christian consider before getting involved in bodybuilding or continuing in it? II. What does the Bible say about bodybuilding? 1. Bodily exercise profits little (1Ti 4:8). A. Godliness is very profitable (1Ti 4:8). i. As a Christian, should a man devote more time, energy, and money to bodybuilding (including time in the gym, meal prep, cost of food, supplements, equipment, etc.) than he does to pursuing godliness? ii. Should a Christian spend more time in the gym than in the word of God, church, and Bible study? B. Exercising wisdom, fearing the LORD, departing from evil, and hearing and heeding the word of God will do more to improve your health than working out (Pro 3:7-8; Pro 4:20-22). 2. The Lord takes not pleasure in the legs of a man (Psa 147:10). A. God does not care one iota how big your muscles are. B. For a man to take pleasure in his legs, especially to the point of showing off the entirety of them to others, is for him to take pleasure in something which God has no pleasure in. C. To appear in pubic in a speedo (or less) for the purpose of taking pleasure in the sight of one's muscular legs is to have "pleasure in unrighteousness" (2Th 2:12). i. Unrighteousness is not conforming oneself to the standard of God's law. a. Unrighteousness n. - The quality of being unrighteous; an instance of this, an unrighteous action. b. Unrighteous adj. - 1. Not righteous or upright; unjust, wicked: c. Righteous adj. - 1. a. Of persons: Just, upright, virtuous; guiltless, sinless; conforming to the standard of the divine or the moral law; acting rightly or justly. ii. God's law states that women are to be adorned in modest apparel (1Ti 2:9). iii. The same goes for men. a. God's law states that the buttocks is nakedness which is to be covered (Isa 20:4; Isa 47:2-3). b. God's law prescribes a garment which covers a man's nakedness, which is shorts which extend to the knee (Exo 28:42). c. Therefore, to appear in public (or post pictures of oneself on the internet) dressed in a speedo, thong, or even briefs is not conforming oneself to God's law concerning modest attire, which is unrighteousness by definition. iv. Unrighteousness is an excludable offence (1Co 6:9; Rom 1:29, 32). v. Those who are guilty of it will be excluded from the church. 3. God is much more pleased with those who fear Him and are strong in faith, than those who are strong in body (Psa 147:11). A. God looks not on the outward appearance, but on the heart (1Sa 16:7). B. We should not judge or praise men based on their outward appearance (2Co 10:7; Joh 7:24). 4. Children of God are not supposed to glory in their strength (Jer 9:23). A. We must only glory in the fact that we understand and know God (Jer 9:24). B. We must only glory in the LORD (1Co 1:31; 2Co 10:17). 5. If a man wants to become truly strong, it's by growing in wisdom and knowledge, not in muscles (Pro 24:5; Pro 8:14). A. Wisdom is better than physical strength (Ecc 9:16). B. Wisdom, not weight lifting, strengthens the wise (Ecc 7:19). C. Wisdom is found in God's word (Pro 2:6; Deut 4:5-6). D. If you want to be truly strong, pick up your Bible more often than you pick up barbells. III. Can a Christian be a bodybuilder? 1. Yes, as long as it does not cause him to break God's commandments or to live outside the boundaries set in the word of God. 2. The remainder of this study will help a Christian man determine if he can be a bodybuilder.