Spiritual Fitness: Top 12 Acts for a Christian

The Bible extensively mentions the word heart more than 500 times in the New International Version English translation. It means the seat and center of all life; your inner person; the profound essence of your personality; the seat of your thoughts, passions, desires, affections, appetites, purposes, endeavors. It’s what drives you. Learn all the ways the Bible refers to the heart in the Encyclopedia of the Bible.

Scripture emphasizes the phrase “with all your heart,” which conveys the message of unconditional, unlimited, resolute, total, complete, steadfast, ardent, zealous, all-in, no-turning-back involvement and commitment.

The following brief list is meant to help you, as a follower of Jesus Christ, focus your daily attention on the most important behaviors that make up the SemperVerus life.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Situational Awareness: Spiritual Self-Defense ]

With all my heart, I will…

1. Love God: the Father, the Son, & the Holy Spirit — Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. Mark 12:30

2. Fear God — The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Proverbs 9:10

3. Trust God — Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5

4. Talk with God — Never stop praying. 1 Thessalonians 5:17

5. Thank God — Always give thanks to God the Father for everything. Give thanks to him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:20

6. Love People — Love your neighbor as yourself. Mark 12:31

7. Forgive People — Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32

8. Die to Sin — Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Romans 6:11-12

9. Fight Evil — Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Ephesians 6:10-13

10. Resist the Devil — Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7

11. Walk the Narrow Way — Enter God’s kingdom through the narrow gate. The gate is large and the road is wide that leads to ruin. Many people go that way. But the gate is small and the road is narrow that leads to life. Only a few people find it. Matthew 7:13-14

12. Engage the Bible — All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Spiritual Fitness: How Long Does It Take to Read the Bible? ]

Many more directives for experiencing the loving relationship God wants with us abound in the Bible, but the above dozen are a simple way to help you make God’s kingdom—which is, as Charles Colson said in his book, Kingdoms in Conflict, “a rule, not a realm. It is the declaration of God’s absolute sovereignty, of his total order of life in this world and the next”—your number one priority every day, all motivated by, first, obeying the greatest of all commandments: loving God with all your heart.

[ Read SemperVerus articles on the subject of Spiritual Fitness ]

Invite SemperVerus to present its 5 life-changing success-generating components—prepare, aware, be, know, do—to your organization to inspire and motivate your members.

Join the SemperVerus Brotherhood™!