Your Body as a Temple

Few would disagree that there is a preoccupation in this country with getting fit and "looking good." T.V. shows,books and magazines as well as fitness clubs,gyms and spas,comprise a billion dollar industry designed to meet the need for achieving health and beauty.Sadly,research tells us we have never been fatter or more unhealthy as a nation than we are right now.You would think that with all the resources available,the opposite would be true.

Where have we gone wrong?

Paul says in first Corinthians,chapter six,"do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you,whom you have from God,and you are not your own?" The conclusion we can make from this statement is that our body is not really ours,it belongs to the Lord.So if it belongs to Him,then we must treat it with respect by being careful of what we put into it, and what we do with it.We should consider this as one of our ways of being obedient to God.

Paul tells us what we need to do in regards to our body when he gives himself as an example; again in first Corinthians,"I discipline my body and bring it into subjection." Powerful, but needed instruction indeed. Later Paul offers an admonition to those who would spend an inordinate amount of time in trying to attain the "body beautiful;" He writes in another of his epistles that a little physical exercise is good, but a person should be more concerned with the spiritual than the physical being.

Getting back to the earlier question of where have we gone wrong as a nation in our quest for health,beauty and fitness, can be summed up in one word,vanity.We have sought this goal for the wrong reason, for the self, and not out of respect and obedience to God.

Jesus said we are to seek first the things above, heavenly,not earthly things.As with so many passages we read in the Bible, it's about priorities.Keeping our body fit and healthy is important,but it needs to be for the right reason.