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Do you ever have days when you just don't feel like putting in the work? You know that whatever work you put into your training that day is going to be half-hearted and probably not as effective as you'd like. Do you go through the motions? Or do you take a step back or take the day off?This can be a tricky question in our spiritual lives, because when we try to act in a Christ-like way, but we don't feel Christ-like while doing it, it can feel like we're faking it. And in an age where "being real" is valued and holding back is considered fake, or not being true to yourself, is it ever OK to "fake" our service to God, doing works even when our heart isn't in it??We have to start from the understanding that doing things God's way, with the right attitude and heart, is never going to be our default setting. As we've pointed out many times on this podcast, Paul described his life as "buffeting his body daily and bringing it under subjection." Paul didn't take the attitude that if things were hard, he needed to take a step back and do a self-care day. or to re-evaluate whether the difficulty was pointing him toward a truer version of himself that he ought to embrace rather than deny. Instead, he fought harder.So sometimes, we do the work even when we don't feel like it. We treat people kindly when we'd rather be arguing or insulting them. We change our behavior to accommodate the needs of others, even when they don't deserve our consideration. We worship, pray, and study our Bible even when our minds seem rooted in physical things and won't let us wholly focus on God.It's the practice of "taking every thought captive to obey Christ," as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 10:5. It is the very essence of training for godliness.