Is Your Temple Fit For A King?
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body."
~ 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ~
I have always loved that verse, taken out of Paul's first letter to the church of God in Corinth. It is what I would like to use today as the springboard for the next two posts - yes, you heard right - a "2 for 1 Deal!" Today I want to speak to the physical side of the verse, while the next post will be dealing with the spiritual application it entails.
Do you exercise? Do you eat right? Do you take care of yourself? Would you consider yourself healthy? I know for some of you I just pulled off a symbolic band-aid! It hurts when someone just jumps in and starts asking personal questions - quick yes, painless no. Most people hate to be questioned about such private things. But before your frustration leads you to click on the little red "x" at the top right hand corner, never to return to my blog again, ask yourself - "Why does it hurt?" Actually, if your answers to the questions above were a resounding "yes", then it didn't hurt at all. In fact, it got you excited to comment below about what new exercise routine you have been on, what diet you have been having success with, etc...
Most of us, when confronted with areas in our life that we know are not where they need to be, tend to get offended when others question us about them. It's called conviction; and it is a necessary step to improving ourselves. For more about having others ask the "hard questions", see my blog entitled "Accountability - One of The Secrets To Success". Once we have been convicted, we have 3 possible choices to make: 1. We can choose to Act. We can decide that now is the time to do something that we should have been doing all along. 2. We can choose to Deny. We can pretend that we really are doing something, just not as fanatically as others who are obsessed. 3. We can choose to Excuse. We can excuse ourselves from having to do it at all; making up some reason as to why, in our situation, we couldn't possibly be expected to do the thing in question.
For this post I am going to talk to those who choose option #1. Because the fact is, those who have chosen option #2 won't be listening anyway; and those who have chosen option #3 have most likely already clicked the little red "x". So, how do we physically honor God with our bodies? I believe it is by taking care of the gift that God has given to us - to the best of our ability. I understand that there are those who are truly physically unable to go jog 2 miles today; however, that does not excuse us from taking care of our bodies to the best of our ability. And as our abilities change, so should our level of expectation from ourselves. As with most things, I can only speak on where I have been. So, for the rest of this post I will tell you how the verse above has impacted my health habits and hopefully it can encourage you to take measures in your life to raise your level of expectation.
I have always loved athletics. However, as soon as I had a child I noticed my activity level dropped very quickly. No longer was a leisurely workout and run in the afternoon possible. The evening basketball games at the local YMCA were few and far between. And the money spent on health shakes and protein bars were quickly diverted to extra boxes of diapers. Life definitely changed; and the problem is that none of us really like change. Most of us find ourselves being reactive instead of proactive... at least I did. So, for the first year or so, I simply went into survival mode. I convinced myself that a gym membership could be better spent on other things and that exercise was a luxury that I simply didn't have time for. What I found however, was that it wasn't exercise that was my problem but rather time management. I found that I needed to be healthy not only because it is spiritual but because it made me a better father, husband, person. It wasn't a "cost" - it was an "investment".
So I went to work.
I have always loved that verse, taken out of Paul's first letter to the church of God in Corinth. It is what I would like to use today as the springboard for the next two posts - yes, you heard right - a "2 for 1 Deal!" Today I want to speak to the physical side of the verse, while the next post will be dealing with the spiritual application it entails.
Do you exercise? Do you eat right? Do you take care of yourself? Would you consider yourself healthy? I know for some of you I just pulled off a symbolic band-aid! It hurts when someone just jumps in and starts asking personal questions - quick yes, painless no. Most people hate to be questioned about such private things. But before your frustration leads you to click on the little red "x" at the top right hand corner, never to return to my blog again, ask yourself - "Why does it hurt?" Actually, if your answers to the questions above were a resounding "yes", then it didn't hurt at all. In fact, it got you excited to comment below about what new exercise routine you have been on, what diet you have been having success with, etc...
Most of us, when confronted with areas in our life that we know are not where they need to be, tend to get offended when others question us about them. It's called conviction; and it is a necessary step to improving ourselves. For more about having others ask the "hard questions", see my blog entitled "Accountability - One of The Secrets To Success". Once we have been convicted, we have 3 possible choices to make: 1. We can choose to Act. We can decide that now is the time to do something that we should have been doing all along. 2. We can choose to Deny. We can pretend that we really are doing something, just not as fanatically as others who are obsessed. 3. We can choose to Excuse. We can excuse ourselves from having to do it at all; making up some reason as to why, in our situation, we couldn't possibly be expected to do the thing in question.
For this post I am going to talk to those who choose option #1. Because the fact is, those who have chosen option #2 won't be listening anyway; and those who have chosen option #3 have most likely already clicked the little red "x". So, how do we physically honor God with our bodies? I believe it is by taking care of the gift that God has given to us - to the best of our ability. I understand that there are those who are truly physically unable to go jog 2 miles today; however, that does not excuse us from taking care of our bodies to the best of our ability. And as our abilities change, so should our level of expectation from ourselves. As with most things, I can only speak on where I have been. So, for the rest of this post I will tell you how the verse above has impacted my health habits and hopefully it can encourage you to take measures in your life to raise your level of expectation.
I have always loved athletics. However, as soon as I had a child I noticed my activity level dropped very quickly. No longer was a leisurely workout and run in the afternoon possible. The evening basketball games at the local YMCA were few and far between. And the money spent on health shakes and protein bars were quickly diverted to extra boxes of diapers. Life definitely changed; and the problem is that none of us really like change. Most of us find ourselves being reactive instead of proactive... at least I did. So, for the first year or so, I simply went into survival mode. I convinced myself that a gym membership could be better spent on other things and that exercise was a luxury that I simply didn't have time for. What I found however, was that it wasn't exercise that was my problem but rather time management. I found that I needed to be healthy not only because it is spiritual but because it made me a better father, husband, person. It wasn't a "cost" - it was an "investment".
So I went to work.
- I got a new gym membership and found times that would not interfere with the family (although often those times are early in the morning).
- I got a goal. I signed up for a sprint tri-athlon; because I internally know the saying "people don't do what you expect but what you inspect". I knew having a goal would keep me focused (that and the fact that I would have to be shirtless in front of hundreds of people).
- I made up my mind. I decided to cut caffeine out of my diet (except for the occasional VERVE). This was very hard and made for one very grumpy weekend - but was definitely worth it! I decided to try and eat healthier. This one I am still working on; things have gotten better but still have major room for improvement.
- And finally, I am sticking with it! Like most good intentions, many times they stay just that... intentions. We have to act on them; and continue to act on them even when we miss a day or splurge at a restaurant. If you need help in honoring God with your body, pray for strength, tell someone your goals, make up your mind and then ACT! Make the choice today to give God your strength - and to make your body a temple that is fit for a King.
(Have you had success in this area? Tell us how in the comments below!)
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