“Bodily Discipline Is Only of Little Profit”: The Body in Its Place

Paul’s line to Timothy is often quoted to dismiss exercise. Read carefully, it does the opposite: bodily discipline has some profit. Paul’s point is comparison. Training in godliness matters more, because it reaches into eternity. First Corinthians 6 gives the body its dignity. It belongs to God, it houses the Spirit, and it is meant to glorify him. Together, the texts set the body in its place: valuable, but not ultimate.

This addition extends the paper’s Section 2, which already includes “Present your body, too: move it” among its practices.

Exercise and the aging brain. In a randomized trial with 120 older adults, a year of walking increased the size of the anterior hippocampus by about 2% and improved spatial memory, while the stretching control group declined (Erickson et al., 2011). The hippocampus is central to memory and is also vulnerable to chronic stress, as the paper’s Section 6 describes.

Exercise and sleep. A meta-analysis of 66 studies found that regular exercise improves sleep, with moderate benefits for sleep quality (Kredlow et al., 2015). See Addition 32.

What the studies cannot tell us. These are good studies, but they show only that exercise has “some profit,” which is what Paul said. They say nothing about godliness, which Paul ranks higher. The convergence is with the balance of the two texts. A man who neglects his body is neglecting something God gave him. A man who worships his body has the order wrong.

Practice

Living it out

Five practices drawn from this passage. Each says how strong the research behind it is. What the labels mean.

1. 1

   Walk most days

   Aim for brisk walking several times a week.

   StrongA year of walking increased hippocampal volume in older adults in a randomized trial (Erickson et al., 2011).
2. 2

   Exercise for sleep, not just for looks

   Regular activity improves sleep quality.

   StrongStrong (Kredlow et al., 2015).
3. 3

   Train with a brother

   Pair a workout with conversation and prayer.

   ObedienceObedience. Commended by Scripture (Eccl. 4:9–10). The paper’s Section 7 on companionship is related.
4. 4

   Keep godliness first

   Don’t let a workout routine crowd out time in Scripture and prayer. If you have to choose, choose godliness.

   ObedienceObedience. Commended by Scripture (1 Tim. 4:8).
5. 5

   Treat your body as a trust, not a trophy

   Eat, sleep, and move as a steward of what belongs to God.

   ObedienceObedience. Commended by Scripture (1 Cor. 6:19–20).

Studies cited on this page2

1. ↗ Erickson, K. I., Voss, M. W., Prakash, R. S., Basak, C., Szabo, A., Chaddock, L., Kim, J. S., Heo, S., Alves, H., White, S. M., Wojcicki, T. R., Mailey, E., Vieira, V. J., Martin, S. A., Pence, B. D., Woods, J. A., McAuley, E., & Kramer, A. F. (2011). Exercise training increases size of hippocampus and improves memory. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(7), 3017–3022. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1015950108
2. ↗ Kredlow, M. A., Capozzoli, M. C., Hearon, B. A., Calkins, A. W., & Otto, M. W. (2015). The effects of physical activity on sleep: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 38(3), 427–449. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-015-9617-6