Every time news programs report a story about vandalism at a church, we cringe. It’s hard for us to bear the thought of anyone spray-painting graffiti on sanctuary walls or damaging the stained glass windows, let alone setting fire to a place of worship. It’s a desecration! The church is a sacred place.
Unfortunately many Christians don’t feel as strongly about harming the temple of the Holy Spirit – our own bodies. That is true in India as well as the USA. We put junk into our stomachs, our veins and our lungs. We wear ourselves down under a weight of stress and pressure. We feed our bodies food that undermines our health and increases our weight. We don’t get adequate rest or exercise. We push seven days a week and don’t take a day off as God commands. We are ever so careful to keep our mind and soul/spirit pure and healthy, but often don’t apply that to our bodies. No wonder so many of our shared prayer requests are about health and body issues!
Yet God has designed our bodies in a unique way, exactly what He wants for each of us, the same as He has with our mind and personality. These bodies will be resurrected and fine-tuned to house our spirit for all eternity. We cannot reach our full potential in this life if we neglect the proper care of our bodies. What good are education talent, and gifts if we’re too tired or sick to complete tasks well? Our quality of life goes down, and so does its quantity. Poor health that could have been prevented keeps far too many Christians from serving God as long as He would have wanted.
We see that in India. It’s sad to see pastors and Christians who could have enjoyed better health and longer service struggle with poor health because they haven’t taken care of themselves. This is true in the United States as well.
We need to show honor and respect to the buildings in which we worship, but we need to show even more honor and respect to the temple in which God dwells – our bodies. (January 24, 2019 Hyderabad, India)
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
How would God rate you as a steward of the body He has given you? Where would He say improvement is needed? Perhaps there is even something you need to confess as sin in this?
Jerry Schmoyer
Christian Training Organization ©2019