“A Healthy Me: Physical Health”
Sunday, January 12, 2025
I Corinthians 6:19-20 (NIV)
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.
2 Corinthians 7:1 (NIV)
…let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness our of reverence for God.
2 Corinthians 7:1 (The Message)
…dear friends, let’s make a clean break with everything that defiles or distracts us, both within and without. Let’s make our entire lives fit and holy temples for the worship of God.
Remember God’s Plan: Lordship – Separation – Blessing
The Apostle Paul was saying to the church in Corinth, and he says the same thing to the church in Bechtelsville… Your Body Matters!
Why Does Our Physical Body Matter to God?
- Design – “…I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful.” (Psalms 139)
- Signature – “God saw all that he had made [mankind], and it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31)
- Healing – “…people brought him all who were sick… and he healed them all.” (Matthew 4:24)
- Presence – “…your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit…” (I Corinthians 6:19)
- Witness – “…go …make disciples …baptize …teach…” (Matthew 28:19-20)
- Transformation – “As I have often told you… many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach [fleshly appetites], and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” (Philippians 3:18-21)
How Do I Prioritize My Physical Health?
- Disciplined Diet: What am I consuming?
What am I allowing into my body? What are my five senses taking in?
“Everything is permissible for me” – but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me” – but I will not be mastered by anything. “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food” – but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord [ownership], and the Lord for the body [residence].
Permission asks the question, “can I”. And in this case Paul was saying, there are certain things you can consume, absolutely, and it will have no bearing on the freedom you experience in Christ.
Beneficial asks the question, “should I”. So, though it is permissible, is it benefitting your relationship with the Lord, and is it reflecting positively on the owner of your life?
- Disciplined Diet: How much am I consuming?
The Word of God is very clear when it comes to over-indulgences, specifically gluttony [habitual excessive eating] and drunkenness [excessive use of alcohol].
- Can I consume this? [food, drink, entertainment, activity… etc.]
- Should I consume this? Is this beneficial to me and the One I live for?
- Am I controlled by this? Who’s calling the shots, the consumer or what’s being consumed?
- Disciplined Care
Am I actively taking care of what God highly values?
- Disciplined Rest
Genesis 2:2 (NIV)
“…on the seventh day, God rested…”