“Engage your core,” said the instructor. “If you’re not engaging your core, you’re not really getting the full benefits from these sit-ups.”

As I’ve mentioned before I love to workout. Some seasons more than others, but regardless I love the way I feel when I’m pushing my body past what use to be a limitation. Cardio, lunges, squats, stair-climber, weights, pushups, sit-ups…you name it! Every now and again I attend a Pilates or Yoga class to change things up and work some different muscles. It was recently during a yoga class that I heard the instructor say the above statement.

“Engage your core”

I can’t tell you how many times in those classes when we’ve done 50-100 slow sit-ups (a hundred different ways) and the instructor is yelling this out that I find myself simply doing the motion, but not engaging my abs. On the surface everything about my sit-up looks right and productive, but I have checked out. I’ve disengaged my core muscles and let them relax so I could rest and coast through the rest of the crunches. Sometimes the decision is subconsciously made, but often it is simply a reaction to not wanting to do the work to push through and engage. Engaging takes work and some days I simply don’t want to do it. I’m tired. I don’t believe I can do it. I don’t believe in the results. But not engaging also means not getting results.

The difference between engaging and coasting when it comes to working out can be translated over into so many other arenas of life. Engaging or coasting in relationships. Engaging or coasting in our spiritual lives. Engaging or coasting in pursuing our goals and dreams. It’s a decision we all make based on varying factors. Tired, courage, belief, doubt, and the list goes on and on.  And often subconsciously. We coast. We do everything right on the outside, but our heart is withdrawn. It’s holding back and hiding. It’s sometimes having it’s own pity party, comparing our lives with the fruit of others.

But what would it look like? What would it look like if we chose to engage in our personal relationships every day? Those relationships God’s blessed us with and given us in each season. To be intentional with actually knowing them and not just living on the surface ok with knowing about them. What would it look like if we intentionally engaged our hearts, our minds, EVERYTHING, every time we came to God? Would their maybe be more “results”, more fruit? Would we maybe find the intimacy our heart’s been craving? Would we maybe be fulfilled and find the purpose we’ve been searching for, but afraid to admin?

Relationships are built on levels of intimacy, from simply seeing someone, to becoming an acquaintance, to engaging in a relationship where you actually know someone and the details about their life, and so on and so forth.  It’s the “engaging” part of knowing that most people subconsciously decide to avoid. Because that takes work. That takes being intentional and caring more about others than you do yourself.  It takes being vulnerable and taking risk. It takes letting go of offenses. It takes turning the other cheek. It takes confronting others in love. It takes listening. It takes being involved in each others lives outside of convenience. And with God it often takes the one thing we holding onto as more important than Him. But it’s in the “engaging” part where true fruit and lasting relationships grow and flourish. That’s the actual key to fruit and it’s where our hearts come alive.

Soooo I throw out an obvious suggestion.  One that through the ups and downs of life becomes less obvious. Do the work. ENGAGE your heart. Take any hurt, offense, misunderstanding, foggy-muggy-mess of any heart issues and submit them to your heavenly Father. Trust Him to take care of the details and explain them to you when you need to know them. You just take care of you. Do your part. Be all in! Don’t hide. Don’t hold back. Don’t NOT communicate. Don’t stand on the sidelines waiting for someone else to pursue your friendship. Don’t coast. Don’t waste time. Don’t do your lip service before God and your heart be left cold. He made you to need Him. He made you to desire Him. You won’t be satisfied until you do. Don’t just know about Him, but not actually know Him.

Do the work and ENGAGE YOUR CORE!