Inner Strength
Over a year and half ago I experienced a series of pains that started in my shoulder and moved to my lower back. Through a physical therapist I discovered that I needed to build up my inner core muscles that support the movements in my extremities and help my body move without injury. I was told that if I didn’t start working on my core muscles, the injuries could become more frequent. Then I was given specific exercises to strengthen my core.
That reminded me that we can look strong on the outside but be weak and weary inside. We have an inner man, and that inner man is the core of who we really are. It is our identity. It controls how we respond to life—our attitudes and our thoughts. It is in the inner man that we are made strong and get our strength to walk a victorious life. When we have a strong inner man, it engages the rest of our life and helps our life become easier. In fact, some of the hurts we suffer come because we’re not engaging our spiritual man, but rather our flesh. We are saying negative things about ourselves. We’re in strife with our spouse. We’re talking about how much we don’t like our job. We need to engage our inner core, our spiritual man, so we can quit having these unnecessary hurts. We need to take this command center, this spirit man, and walk in a posture of faith, of self-discipline, of confidence.
Paul prayed for the Ephesians “that God would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man” (Ephesians 3:16). The inner man is strengthened by God through the Spirit. We have to take time, we have to find room in our busy lives, to let the Spirit of God minister life to us, to be touched by the Word of God and the very presence of Almighty God, because that’s what strengthens our inner man. We cannot neglect our inner man or we’ll be weak, undisciplined, and weary inside.
Joel’s dad used to say, “Some people feed their physical bodies three hot meals a day, but they feed their inner man one cold snack a week.” Today I encourage you to develop your personal relationship with God on a daily basis. When you open your Bible and get into the Word, you’re spending time with God. Ask Him to speak to you through His Word and through His Spirit. Make it a habit to renew and strengthen your inner man because that’s how your life will be transformed.
That reminded me that we can look strong on the outside but be weak and weary inside. We have an inner man, and that inner man is the core of who we really are. It is our identity. It controls how we respond to life—our attitudes and our thoughts. It is in the inner man that we are made strong and get our strength to walk a victorious life. When we have a strong inner man, it engages the rest of our life and helps our life become easier. In fact, some of the hurts we suffer come because we’re not engaging our spiritual man, but rather our flesh. We are saying negative things about ourselves. We’re in strife with our spouse. We’re talking about how much we don’t like our job. We need to engage our inner core, our spiritual man, so we can quit having these unnecessary hurts. We need to take this command center, this spirit man, and walk in a posture of faith, of self-discipline, of confidence.
Paul prayed for the Ephesians “that God would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man” (Ephesians 3:16). The inner man is strengthened by God through the Spirit. We have to take time, we have to find room in our busy lives, to let the Spirit of God minister life to us, to be touched by the Word of God and the very presence of Almighty God, because that’s what strengthens our inner man. We cannot neglect our inner man or we’ll be weak, undisciplined, and weary inside.
Joel’s dad used to say, “Some people feed their physical bodies three hot meals a day, but they feed their inner man one cold snack a week.” Today I encourage you to develop your personal relationship with God on a daily basis. When you open your Bible and get into the Word, you’re spending time with God. Ask Him to speak to you through His Word and through His Spirit. Make it a habit to renew and strengthen your inner man because that’s how your life will be transformed.