Gumnos: throwing off every encumbrance

Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness. 1 Tim. 4:7

The word “train” comes from the Greek word Gumnos which means “naked” a word from which we also get our English word gymnasium. It is said that traditional greek athletes trained and competed without clothes. So to “train” literally meant to exercise naked or compete without clothes. The reason behind this practice was to allow the competitor to be free of every encumbrance that would burden and keep him/her from maximum performance.

For Paul, connecting this word “train” to godliness will mean that his audience will
begin to exercise their faith by training themselves to begin learning how to discard bad habits, evil tendencies, and anything or any lifestyle that impedes godliness. The scripture says it this way…

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us”

We cannot compete or run a successful Christian life carrying baggage. We will never grow or reach our spiritual goals if we continue to carry weight and the sin that pulls us down. Hebrews says, lay them aside, throw them off. The reason why we need to throw these things off is because of their ability to hinder us, entangle us and eventually stop and take us out of the race.

Is there anything weighing you down today?