Putting in the Reps

Putting in the reps is athletic training phraseology. Bodybuilders use this kind of lingo when they speak about how they’ve made their greatest gains. “No pain, no gain.” Repetition is an imperative to progress, especially when it comes to physical training. This is common knowledge.

People talk about the human brain as being a “muscle.” The implication is that it, too, needs to “put in the reps” in order to stay strong, practiced, and capable. We need to train hard so that when it’s time to perform difficult feats, we’re successful.

Learning the Bible is a daily activity. Like athletic training, we must maintain proper form while exercising our minds. It’s not just quantity, but quality that results in progress. 

A good shepherd, like the Apostle Paul, understands this and will, like a good coach, push his flock to keep learning. A good leader sets high expectations of his followers for their own sake, knowing both the rules of the game and the best outcomes.


There are doctrines which must be taught repeatedly, such as love, grace, forgiveness, and so on. Most importantly, of course, is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In a world that is determined to sow false religion, we believers must train all the more to avoid doctrinal atrophy.

Have you ever met someone who used to put in the reps with their Bible but has since gotten lazy? What did you notice about their spiritual strength? Were they a person of conviction, or had they become complacent, weak, and possibly even errant in their thinking? Had they become syncretic, blending worldly religious thinking with Biblical Truth? Were they incapable of doing as the Apostle Peter firmly suggested?


Imagine if a professional football team only practiced offensive plays but never defensive ones. What if the defensive team didn’t practice at all, what would the outcome be? Would you expect the other team to walk all over them during the game? Of course. That’s because good defense requires lots of practice, learning new strategies and formations, studying the opposition’s strengths and weaknesses, and so on. Defending something is hard work and, in some ways, requires even more preparation than those on the other side of the ball. We believers have a similar challenge, don’t we?

To stand up a proper defense, we must know both our own Truth and the truth of our opposition.


To heed Christ’s words, we must train hard. We must learn from the Bible what it means to defend our faith against those hell-bent on trampling it.

The Apostle Peter was a firm believer in repetition.


Let us be inspired by those who have gone before us, who trained hard as disciples of Jesus, and have become our “coaches”.


If each stride in a practice run is a rep, then who puts more reps into their training regimen than long-distance runners? If we’re ever to finish this race – and this race is certainly a marathon – then we must train. We must put in the reps so we, too, at the end of our lives, are able to say as Paul did.


Love in Christ,

Ed Collins