“Do you not know that your bodies are
temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You
are not your own; 20 you
were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies” (1 Corinthian
6:19-20 NIV).
God tells us to honor his temple and our
bodies are the Lord’s temple.
That says a lot about our bodies and our
physical state. Who are we to hate the
temple that God says to honor because of where we physically are? To hate yourself is to hate the wonderfully
made temple that God created with his own hands. But there are things that can
be done to perfect even the perfection that he made; even when we do not see it
for ourselves.
Eating
“God said, ‘I give you every seed-bearing
plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in
it. They will be yours for food’” (Genesis 1:29 NIV).
Besides all the meat and rice and pastas in
the world, there are fruits and vegetables.
If you eat according to the bible, you will include them into your diet
because obviously, they must be good for you if they were hand-made by God just
for you to eat. A plate should have more vegetables on it than the meat and
other food content of your meal. Fruits should be included into our diets.
The Bible
actually tells us how to eat. It
recently dawned on me about eight months ago when I was about to hit 230 pounds
and after praying to God for a way to better my health, he lead me to eat
differently. Who knew l’d be the one eating barley, beans and lentils, millet
and emmer? 70 lbs later, my health has improved and I feel so much better. My
body is no longer in pain and ironically my heart stopped pumping really hard
just from walking up a few steps. Changing my eating habits made a difference
because food is a luxury and should be eaten in moderation. We can eat and eat
and eat unhealthily until we cannot eat no more or the doctors tell us we have
to change our diets because we are pre-about to start having to take pills for
the rest of our lives, or we can choose to honor God’s temple and feed it with gentle
love by blessing it with healthy foods. For more biblical verses about eating healthy,
please visit http://www.openbible.info/topics/healthy_eating
Exercise
Timothy 4:8
says “for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in
every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to
come.”
In other
words, exercising prolongs life. It strengthens our bodies for days to come and
to be able to be strong for the days ahead. If we hate our bodies but are not doing
anything about it, we are wasting our breaths and energies.
God gave us
full use of our legs and feet. Use them and walk a little bit. Walking just for twenty minutes a day can not
only help to improve heart health but can clear your mind because in that
walking, there is somewhat of a meditational moments when you are one-on-one
with God.
“ Do you not
know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So
run that you may obtain it” (Corinthins 1:9:24 ESV). Perhaps we cannot all be
winners in a race, but we can win against unnecessary diseases caused by
overeating and idleness like diabetes, heart disease and cholesterol. While
everyone does not have the knee or ankle strength to go running like Olympic
gold-medalist Alice Coachman, our bodies can still be honored in a number of
ways; here are a few ideas:
1. If we have a desk or apartment on the
third floor of a building, instead of taking the elevator, take the steps up
and down and burn off a few calories.
2. While watching television, lay down
in front of the screen and do some sit-ups, abdominal crunches, bicycle twists
or other strength training exercises. Perhaps
you will be a little sore but I know you will not hate seeing muscles form on
your abdominal area.
3. If you live about two to three blocks
away from your bus stop or train station, get off a few stops before and walk
the rest of the way. Your heart will definitely be thanking you for exercising
it.
4. It is the summer time and you decide
that all you want to do to keep you away from boredness is to play your
favorite computer game solitaire. Why not go out with your favorite young
person in your life and play basketball, softball, tennis or catch? Maybe you could turn on the Wii Fit and do
some of the calorie-burning Wii fit games.
I always enjoy the boxing game. Even better if you have two remotes, you
can play interactively and have a whole lot of fun while also working out.
Respect
Regardless
of where you are in life whether you are a size 2 or a size 26, you are still
loved in the eyes of God. According to
Songs of Solomon 4:7, “you are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw
in you.” Did God say that? How can we
deny his word and message to us?
If you feel
there is something not so wonderful about yourself in your eyes, love yourself by making moves
to change it. It is one thing to complain and not do anything about our own
situation, but it is something else to get up and make a decision to press
forward toward the mark of the higher calling.
After I
prayed and made my weaknesses known to God even though he knew them already, he
lead me to diet and exercise and after eight months of hard work and dedication
to my own cause, I lost 70 pounds and dropped about seven sizes. Anything you
want to accomplish, even if it is to love yourself more should include God. Instead
of looking in the mirror and dishonoring the perfectly made temple of God’s, love it like the unconditional love God
gives, and decide for yourself to build it up and make it as beautiful as you
want to see it, even though God sees you as beautiful already. There is nothing
wrong with trying to perfect yourself. Love should be the one thing that you do
not deny yourself of regardless of your stage. It takes a lot of work, persistence
and also will-power. If you remember that you can do all things through Christ,
you already know that if you hold onto his hands and never give up the faith,
you can thrust forward into anything you want to accomplish. But nonetheless,
respect your temple because it is God’s.
