A Healthy Body

In my previous post called “My Why” I touched on the connection between a healthy body – healthy mind & healthy spirit. I want to break each one down without losing the importance of all three and how they are connected.

First of all, we cannot reach our full potential, fulfill God’s purpose or even make a good effort at these when we aren’t right physically. But unfortunately it seems that our health is so overlooked. I’m not casting stones but you very rarely hear sermons about the importance of living healthy. Yet, when we are sick physically it affects every part of our lives, including our ministry. A healthy body is critical to prepare us for the various activities and ministry opportunities the Lord has for us. You need a healthy body to fulfill your eternal destiny and achieve God’s best for you.

1 Corinthians 3:16 tells us “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” So here apostle Paul is letting us know that our body is more than just a shell, it’s actually the temple of God and that God dwells in us! Think about this for a moment.

I’m a literal person so imagine this with me. You pull up to this big, beautiful church and the lawn is mowed and well manicured. The parking lot is newly paved and the lines are meticulously painted. You get so excited and can’t wait to see what’s inside! You walk through the big double doors and find trash all over the sanctuary. Inside you find donuts, candy, half eaten pizzas, coffee and soda all over the pews and carpet. Yeah, this would be a pastor’s nightmare, right?!?

When God comes into our bodies, into His temple, what does He find? Does He find us lethargic because we’ve overloaded on sugar? Or too much food in general? Does He find us riddled with disease because of poor choices? Let me just say, sugar is a drug and most of us are addicted to it, including myself. In the brain, excess sugar impairs both our cognitive skills and our self-control, and guess what – having a little sugar stimulates a craving for more. Sugar has drug-like effects in the reward center of the brain.

See we can dress up the outside pretty well. We can put on the nice clothes, fix our hair and have our nails manicured and completely hide the fact that the body is dealing with heart disease, diabetes and cancer. What we put in our bodies determines how if functions.

We need to keep in mind that we need to “Eat to Live” not “Live to Eat”! There’s a big difference. I said sugar is addictive but I want to add that food is addictive! Most of us love food! We love to eat! I am Apostolic and we teach the Apostle’s doctrine but we take Acts 2:42 a bit too far sometimes, “...continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread...” It’s kind of a running joke that we can’t get together without eating. LOL But seriously, we need to change the way we look at food. So many of us use food as an emotional crutch. When we’re sad, we eat. When we’re mad, we eat. When we’re happy, we eat. When we’re excited, we eat. Get the picture? We need to learn to view food as fuel for our bodies. We need to choose the best that we can. I’m not saying it’s easy, trust me, I know it’s not! But I think it’s worth it.

I am reminded of a story I heard about a missionary. A missionary had brought some children to the states to help raise funds for various projects in a third world country where he was working. The Pastor of the church wanted to give the children Hershey bars as a treat. The missionary asked that he not do that. When the pastor asked why, the missionary said that “Although the gesture seems nice and the thought was appreciated, it would put a craving in those children that they would never be able to have again.” So he was saying that one chocolate bar would put a longing in these young children’s bodies for something that they would have to live with the rest of their lives.

Now, before you disagree with the story and tell me that can’t be right. let me just say, I’m telling it as it was told to me. I have never been to a third world country and I have no reason to dispute it. But let’s stick to the issue…

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:31 that “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” So whatever we do, including what we eat or drink, we need to do it for the glory of God.

Paul’s message throughout his writings is that “I am in Christ and Christ is in me”. He also mentions that since the Holy Spirit has made us His temple on earth, we need to “glorify God” in our body and our spirit. We need to treat our physical body with the same respect we have for our spirit. Each of us, as a Christian, have a responsibility to make sure that anything we do with these physical bodies brings glory and honor to God.

What we do with our body is an act of praise to God. So anything we do to hurt or damage the body will prevent or limit us from fully honoring God and making us unavailable for His service which will keep us from fulfilling our purpose and reaching our full potential.

Good health will not only bring glory to God but it will help us gain mental focus, enthusiasm, clear thinking, motivation, perseverance and self-confidence.