WHY to Fitness

Knowing is Not Enough

• Aaron O’Connell • Episode 31

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Are we adequately applying our knowledge or merely collecting it? Join me, Aaron O'Connell, as we dive deep into the paradox of our abundant access to information and yet, our struggle with its appropriate usage. We pull in threads from age-old biblical stories of Adam and Eve, King Solomon, and the Israelites, emphasizing that the true power of knowledge lies not in its possession, but in its application. We explore the pivotal role of wisdom and action in truly embracing life's responsibilities.

Moving from the abstract to the concrete, we examine the realm of health and fitness. You'll learn how to not just obtain knowledge about well-being, but make it an integral part of who you are. We'll talk about the crucial role of a supportive community and professional guidance while holding ourselves accountable. Remember, knowledge isn't just power; it is a responsibility. So, let's ensure we don't merely become repositories of information. Let's transform knowledge into action, building the resilience and confidence we need to overcome life's challenges. Let's embark on this journey of wisdom, action, and transformation together.

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Aaron O'Connell:

To increase knowledge only increases sorrow, because the Bible says it's a sin to know what you ought to do and not do it. If you know a lot, much is going to be expected of you. Knowing is not enough. We must apply. Welcome to WHY to Fitness Fitness Podcast. I'm your host, aaron O'Connell, and today I'm talking about how knowing is not enough In today's world. There's so much information. We have Google. We have so many search engines. There's countless articles on pretty much everything you want to look for. Think of the diet and health industry. There's no more question on how do you work out. You can Google it right now Best workouts for beginners, best workouts with no equipment, best home workouts, best band workouts, best kettlebell workouts, best running workouts, how to run a marathon All of these different things are literally one search away. But here's the thing If we can know so much, why is it that people are still struggling? Why is it that, even though they know what they ought to do, they're not doing it? Here's the thing. One way to define gating knowledge is the aquarium of facts or information, but on the flip side, wisdom is the ability to use the knowledge in the right way. So wisdom is using that knowledge, applying that knowledge. And that's what people aren't doing. They're not using the knowledge they have and what they know they ought to do, they're still not doing it. We can back up to the Old Testament Go, look at the two trees the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We know that Eve ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but notice that it's the knowledge of good and evil. Knowledge inside of itself isn't inherently bad, but when we're using it for the wrong reasons, when we're acquiring it for our own self-gain, that's when, all of a sudden, we can experience death through it. If we even look at what Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 1.18, he says the greater my wisdom, the greater my grief. To increase knowledge only increases sorrow. Here's a king that gave himself everything. Nothing was held back, did hear he saying. Knowledge, it just increases sorrow. Why is that? What I've come to understand is when you understand how something works, when you know what you ought to do, when you have the knowledge of something, if you're then not doing it, you're then going to be anxious, you're going to be depressed, you're going to be experiencing stress, emotional, mental anguish, because you know what you ought to do, because the Bible says it's a sin to know what you ought to do and not do it. But this doesn't mean don't gain knowledge. It means that when we do gain that knowledge, when we do start to know, we need to do something with it.

Aaron O'Connell:

James warns us that faith by itself, that's not accompanied by action, is dead. This is James 2.17. But then there's arguments when we go to verse 18, you have faith, I have deeds. Show me your faith without deeds and I'll show you my faith by my deeds. James says Because we need to have that deed, the deeds with faith, or else the faith is dead. Because knowing is not enough.

Aaron O'Connell:

James 2.19 says you believe there's one God good. Even the demons believe that and they shudder. The demons know that Jesus is the Son of God, that he took away the sins, that he died to take away the sins of the world. They know. Even in Mark 1.24 you can see he's like what do you want to do with us, jesus of Nazareth? The demons are saying have you come to destroy us? This is Legion talking. I know who you are, the Holy One of God. They know who he is.

Aaron O'Connell:

Knowing is not enough. James goes on in chapter 1.22 says do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourself. Do what it says we need to obey now, especially as Christians, but this applies to all of our life. If you asked yourself right now do you know what you need to do to lose weight? Do you know what you should do to get healthier? You're going to quickly pick something. I know it. I've coached too many people to not know that. They'll simply start with saying I should eat less desserts, I should stop having these many treats, I should stop drinking soda. I really should start working out. And it's just basic things. Basic things they know they ought to do, they are good for them, yet they're not doing them. Knowing is not enough.

Aaron O'Connell:

The whole Old Testament is written with this. You look at the Israelites. They got to see all the different miracles, yet they still, right away, when Moses was taking too long to get the Ten Commandments, he must have died Make us a golden calf. Aaron, this is the God that brought you out of Egypt Instantly turned away on them, always grumbling. They saw a manna coming out of the sky and then they wanted meat. Then they got meat. Oh, I'm sick. All these things. They constantly saw all the signs, yet they still turned. Knowing wasn't enough.

Aaron O'Connell:

In the book of Daniel, chapter 5, we have Bel Shazar. This is the original writing on the wall. That's where the quote comes from. If the writing is on the wall, of course it's there. Bel Shazar was throwing this amazing feast, amazing party, even went and got the gold cups from the temple. They would be drinking out of all these things, and then they got the writing on the wall, the floating hand, saying your days are going to be numbered, and that very night he died. Bel Shazar knew all about what happened to Nebuchadnezzar, his father, but he did nothing. He did nothing differently.

Aaron O'Connell:

Knowing is not enough. We must apply knowledge of the Bible. The knowledge of what we need to do doesn't translate into doing Godly living, doesn't translate into healthy living. James 1-23-24 says it's like a person who looks at himself in the mirror and goes away Immediately, forgets what he looks like. If God's Word has no impact on the way we live and lead our lives, then we're going to be no different from a non-believer. If the knowledge we know of what we ought to do, the new workout, the new diet, whatever it is, the healthier ways that you found something has no impact on what you're doing, then you're going to be no different from somebody that's unhealthy, even though you gained that information.

Aaron O'Connell:

This is why I stopped personal training. This is why I stopped giving cookie cutter even diets. Should I say cookie cutter diets? But they're not even cookie cutter diets. I wouldn't tell, and I still don't tell clients what to eat, because then it's not becoming their own. They're just learning what they ought to do. They just know what they should do because Aaron told them. So, never really bringing it into who they are, never getting them and finding the way that's easy and fun, so they can be consistent and disciplined with it. No, they usually are just paying a certain amount of money to get a certain result and then they follow that one way that gets given by a personal trainer, or that workout or that diet, and that's all they know. And then life comes and they drop off and they go right back to where they started, or so a lot of many times worse, because they never really understood the knowledge they were gaining. That's what we need to do. We need to gain the knowledge and then apply it to our lives. We need to be transformed by the information and knowledge that we gain. Do not copy patterns of this world. Romans 12 2 says, but instead be transformed by the renewing of your mind. We need to be transformed, we need to change, we need to get closer to Christ by the renewing of our mind, when we can take it in and it becomes our identity. This is what Y2 Fitness is all about. It becomes your.

Aaron O'Connell:

Why, unfortunately, too many people's, as I've said, are fear based goals. They're not really doing it for the right reasons. This is a whole podcast that I've done in the beginning, the number one reason why you're not achieving your goals. Go check that podcast out if you haven't heard it yet. But too many people are living by their own flesh. They're Christian outwardly, but inwardly their hearts are not aligned with God, same with the fitness realm. They say they work out. They say they do these things, they're getting. They're doing one thing right they're working out so hard in the gym, yet their diets are crap, their sleep is horrible, their stress is through the roof.

Aaron O'Connell:

If these things are out of balance, it's going to manifest in your physical. Your physical is the billboard of what your spirit and your soul is going through. If your spirit is not chasing after God, you're not doing what you need to do. You know what you ought to do. It's going to manifest in the physical. If you are chasing physical pleasures, physical results for own selfish gain, that you call yourself a Christian, there's going to be a roadblock because you're going to be experiencing stress. It's your Holy Spirit talking to you, saying hey, maybe you shouldn't gratify your flesh. Knowing is not enough.

Aaron O'Connell:

2 Timothy 3.5.7 tells us there will be people in the last days who have a form of godliness but deny its power. We need to turn away from those people Because they are always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Unfortunately, when we learn something new, we get this little boost of dopamine and these happy hormones like we did something, we attain something, like we moved forward. Okay, that little bit, but that's just a form of godliness, a form of getting closer to it. But no, we need to really put it into practice, because the scariest Bible verse in the whole entire Bible, in my opinion, exists. We read in Matthew 7, 21, 22 not everyone who says to me, lord, lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven, then it will be getting into there, into heaven.

Aaron O'Connell:

Many will say to me in that day Lord, lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name and done many wonders in your name? How are these people able to prophesy, cast out demons and work miracles? It's because they had a spirit that they believed was the Holy Spirit, but wasn't the Holy Spirit, it was of the devil. The demons and all of them can empower you and make you tricked that you are following God. The safest place that the devil wants you to be for him is thinking you're a Christian when you're really not. Because then it goes on. It goes to those people that have cast out demons, miracles, done miracles, all that he says. I'll declare them. I never knew you from you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. These people believe they received the Holy Spirit and they try to prove it by doing these marvelous things. But it's the wrong spirit. When he comes, he's going to say you're not loyal subjects of my kingdom, you've not kept the laws of my kingdom. I do not know you. Unfortunately, many people are going to hear this Says it right there in the Bible. Many in that day will say Lord, lord, there is a possibility to be thinking you're saved and doing great things, getting blessed, all these things, and it not be the Holy Spirit. Second Corinthians 11-14 says but I'm not a surprised. Even Satan disguised himself as an angel of light. That's what my whole entire forearm tattoo says. It says angel one way and devil the other way, because it's a reminder that the devil comes described in disguise as an angel of light.

Aaron O'Connell:

Knowing is not enough. This is why we need to be like childlike faith, where we just do it because our parents said so, because God said so. We just do it and don't ask questions. That's the best place to be. If you could go to your trainer, if you could come to me as a coach, as a counselor, come to me as your counselor and I say, hey, this is what God says, this is the best thing for you, and you don't ask questions. You're just like this is the best thing for me. Instantly you're gonna get amazing results.

Aaron O'Connell:

But unfortunately, we've been bringing to our past experiences, our doubts, our anxieties, our depressions, our life, our past thoughts, our cognitive thinking, all of it together, and we doubt. But a little bit. Faith moves mountains. God says we need to be people that not only speak it. We need to do it Because Matthew 15.79 Jesus pointed out that many profess to honor him with their lips while their heart was far away from him. Let's not have our hearts far away from him when it comes to working out. Let's not just learn this information. Let's not just get the knowledge. Let's apply it to our life If you don't know how to. That's what.

Aaron O'Connell:

Why two, fitness is about. That's what my coaching is about To teach you how to offer your body as living sacrifice. To teach you how to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. To teach you how to stop copying patterns of this world so you can find true peace over your health and fitness and your and your physical appearance. That's what we really want, because if you get that six pack, you lose that weight and you're still obsessed with your body, still have it as a God. You're going to find death through that anxiety, depression, even if you get satisfied with it. The moment you eat something wrong, you're looking at yourself like you were just as fat as before and you're feeling crappy. It's not a good place to be. I've been there. I've seen it multiple times with so many people. That's why they coined the term, never be satisfied.

Aaron O'Connell:

We I myself want to be satisfied within my health and fitness. I want to dedicate it to God. I want to know he is the reason for my fitness. He is why we need to make it our identity. So, instead of just knowing, let's start applying. Was find little steps that we can take daily to apply what we know. Let's get ourselves around the community of people that hold us accountable, that want us to succeed, that want us to win, that breathe life into us.

Aaron O'Connell:

If you don't have that community, hire somebody like myself or somebody that you know that will help you, but not just obtain the results, but to truly be obedient to Christ, so you can learn how to do it during the thick and the thin, through the ups and the downs, so you can make it a rhythm of your life. So it becomes your identity that you're just somebody that takes care of your temple, that you're somebody that just wants to eat healthy. So, therefore, if anything happens in this world through life, or devil throws something your way or God gives you something that you need to walk through, you know how to do it. You have confidence, you can do it. But if you're struggling, doing what you know, what you ought not to do, you're not going to have that confidence. Things are going to come down like a house of cards. Let's apply it to our lives Because, remember, if you know a lot, much is going to be expected to you. Luke 12, 48,.

Aaron O'Connell:

Someone who does not know then and does something wrong will only be punished lightly. But when someone has been given much, much will be required in return. He was been entrusted with much. Even more will be required. So the more we know, the more that's going to be required of us. This isn't excuse to just be like, oh, I don't know anything. You can't have willful ignorance in this. But instead of just gaining more information and more knowledge, let's look at the knowledge we already have and start applying it to our lives. Let's start applying what we already know and not just be getting off on learning more and learning more, because it's not enough to know.

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Aaron O'Connell

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