Getting in better shape and losing weight — these are among the top New Year's resolutions for many people. But does physical fitness have anything to do with spirituality?

Many religious leaders say it does, though fitness can be taken to the extreme.

"Holistic health is an important goal," said the Rev. Michael J. Imperiale of the First Presbyterian Church of Salt Lake.

If people are physically fit, they can serve God better.

But you can overdo it. "The key is a balanced life," the Rev. Imperiale said.

The King James version of the New Testament offers this advice: "For bodily exercise profiteth little; but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that is now, and of that which is to come." (1 Timothy 4:8).

The Rev. Neal Humphrey of Fruit Heights' Westminster Presbyterian Church said biblical teachings also speak out strongly against gluttony.

"Gluttony was a menace," he said, because it meant vital food resources were misused.

However, the Rev. Humphrey believes most everyone in biblical times was physically fit because life required it.

"I'm a pretty active guy," said the Rev. Humphrey, an avid skier.

He says Paul in the New Testament was probably a boxer and often spoke using metaphors from sports, like "running the race" to illustrate spiritual goals.

The Rev. Humphrey cautions that what looks like physical fitness might not really be. He also said he's known a lot of heavy or overweight people who were very effective spiritually, so the slim look may not matter as much as some might believe.

Bishop George H. Niederauer of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City agrees that being physically fit can enhance a person's spiritual life. He said from the creation of Adam of Eve to today, people have a stewardship to take care of the world around them. That doesn't just include clean air, water and other environmental issues but also that we "take care of our health, which is God's gift."

The Rev. Steve Goodier of Salt Lake's Christ United Methodist Church said the gospel teaches that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit.

"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." (King James version, 1 Corinthians 3:16-17)

"It's our responsibility to do what we can to stay in shape," the Rev. Goodier said.

According to Richard Wolf, an elder in the North Salt Lake congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, exercise and physical fitness are good, but we can overdo it.

"There has to be a balance," he said.