It is Biblical to pursue that which is uncomfortable. God does not call us to sit idly by in our comfortable ivory towers and be peacefully living in bliss. He calls us into the mud, into the ugly, and to standing against the world in a way that honors him. We are called to a God-honoring adventure towards transformation. In order to succeed, we must become strong people. But what is being strong, and how does that honor God?

At 27, I was already burning out as a teacher — exhausted, irritable, unstable, and feeling like a shell of the man I wanted to be. Every day felt like being ground into dust. I thought that if I could just get in better shape, and get a bit more organized, everything else would fall into place. So I built what I called the Iron Habits — a simple, structured framework for fitness that helped me get stronger and healthier while freeing up my mind to focus on work.