I'm not a math person, I never have been. But a girlfriend of mine uses a math term all the time to describe unity in her life: congruent.
Where there is unity, there is peace.
We know this, we see it all the time. Or rather, we see the lack of it. When your family is united in where to eat for dinner, there is peace. When a board of directors is united on a vote, there is peace. When Christ brings us, the body, his bride together through his work on the cross, there is peace. When my heart and my mind are united on my actions, I have peace. When what I desire to do and what my will or flesh wants to do in the moment are congruent, there is peace.
Congruent meaning in agreement or harmony. And coinciding exactly when superimposed or where two things came together, but are BOTH still evident. My heart and my mind will meet, they will be in harmony and they will both still be evident= peace. Paul talks about it this way in the book of Ephesians:
“There is one body and one Spirit — just as you were called to one hope when you were called — one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:4-6).
He unites us in himself as he is IN ALL THINGS. And then we become congruent with Christ. We are both evident, but harmony and peace exist in that exact place where we meet him. So how does this change how we behave as people of faith and people of health?
In that place where Christ is bringing unity to everything, can a healthy person eat unhealthy foods?
Can a fit person deny their body a good workout?
Can we be gluttons, can we be out of control with our cravings and ourselves?
Our hearts desire is to follow God, to meet health goals that honor him, but our minds obsessing about our fleshly desires.
There may be one body and one spirit, but the verse says we are called and that means we have to answer one way or another. I believe yes of course, we can be in a place where we fail in our health and fitness walk. If we were utterly sufficient, why would Christ be strongest most in our weakness? If we were sufficent, why would his grace about more where sin remains? He alone brings unity, we can strive for it, we can practice it, but true unity in our Christian walk, our world, our health and fitness journeys come only from Christ.
We can coach ourselves to bring our hearts and minds closer, here are a few tips:
1) Stay in God's word! In the word, we will be transformed, buy the renewing of our mind. When you desire to have your heart and mind be ONE, go to the source– you have the MIND of Christ, a new way of thinking and that can change your life. The Positive Confession movement people know this key already: Change your mind and you can change your life. Let God's word bring the ultimate transformation.
2) Create accountability. We know when we are stepping outside of what we are called to do. The bible says we know when we hear the voice of God, still we are in charge of whether or not we obey. Stand up and say NO to your own flesh when you want to go against the still small voice. Get an accountability partner, an online forum, a meeting, even just a friend to ask you the hard questions.
3) Know where your going, your goals, what your aiming for. When you want to have your heart and mind congruent on a subject or part of your life. Set clear boundaries for yourself. Know what it is that your not going to do and then there will be no question as to if you have deviated from it or not. We can blur lines in our own mind and reasoning fast enough–Write the vision out and make it plain so there is no question.
4) Find a wellness, lifestyle or fitness coach to keep you on track. What better way to be one in mind and body, than to bring in the professionals. A short coaching session per week can look like a simple getting you back on track or even setting new, grander goals once you meet your first goal. That being said, don't be discouraged if you do find yourself at square one, the whole point of this is to let Christ bring the unity, through us and for us, not to do it all by ourselves.
