I will live a healthy lifestyle and keep my body as a temple of the Lord
“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
Your Body is a Temple: The first thing to note here is that your body is a temple of the Lord. It is meant to be developed and used to glorify God. Just as is stated in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
If we built a church/temple but let it fall into disrepair so that it is no longer inviting and often not able to be used because parts would break or were too cluttered, it would show a lack of love for God’s temple. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul stressed that our body is a temple of the Holy Ghost and is meant to be an instrument that glorifies God. Thus Paul used a lot of effort in bodily and spiritual growth. In Paul’s words, “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” 1 Corinthians 9:27. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul similarly stresses that we should follow Godly examples of living and that putting too high a priority on enjoying food is shameful. See Philippians 3:17-20, “Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame.Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Don’t Defile God’s Temple: The next thing to note, is that the decisions contrary to God’s love and guidance are that which defile you and make you ‘unclean’. Things that are said about you or happen to you, do not defile you. In Mark 7:20-23 it says, “And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, ‘Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?’ And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.’ And he said to them, ‘You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!’”. It is clear that Jesus was talking against the Pharisees for not keeping to the scriptures in deciding what was defiling. After giving examples of the Pharisaical changes to God’s commandments, Jesus continued, Mark 7:20-23, “It’s what comes out of a person that makes a person unclean, because it’s from within, from the human heart, that evil thoughts come, as well as sexual immorality, stealing, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, cheating, shameless lust, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness. All these things come from inside and make a person unclean.”
Daniel is a great example of someone that chose to keep from disobeying God’s commands and defiling himself, and God blessed him for his resolution. Daniel 1:8-15, "But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.” Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, “Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king's food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days. At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king's food.”
Things to remember: Your body is just a tool, the goal is not to develop the body for looks, to be kept in a display case, but to develop it as a tool to be used. See 1 Timothy 4:8, “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” A similar point can be found in Ephesians 5:15-18, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.” Not getting drunk doesn’t mean that you are living with God’s Spirit, but if you are guided by the Spirit, you won’t be drinking for the purpose of getting drunk.
Also, not having self control doesn’t just hurt your waistline, by eating expensive foods and drinks you are also keeping yourself from having money and energy to help others as seen in Proverbs 23:20-21, "Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.”
And last, use self control to keep you from doing the wrong things when you are craving food, Proverbs 23:1-3, “When you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what is before you, and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony. Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.” A good example of doing the wrong thing because of hunger is that of Esau accepting some bread and soup from his brother Jacob in exchange for the birthrights of a firstborn son, see Genesis 25:29-34.
If you want to have more practical advice on how to keep your body as a temple of God and live more vibrantly, we encourage you to check out the resources below:
