(The following piece is a look at a project that Keith Smith and I are working on at the present. We will release more and more of the details as we head toward the finish line.)
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. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (KJV)
God created us tripartite: body, soul and spirit. The body is the physical part; the spirit is the life activity; and the soul is the part that makes each of us unique. Think of it as an iPod: it consists of the device itself, the electrical current, and the media recorded on it. These three aspects of each person are inseparable until our final day on earth. You are a creation of God and all things related to your physical being have a huge impact on your spiritual being. Therefore, the care of the body bears a vital relationship to spirituality.
The Bible makes it clear that the soul and the spirit have an eternal essence, whereas the body is only for this life. This does not diminish the importance of the body; if anything, it emphasizes our obligation to maintain it as the repository of the soul and spirit. As Paul, the Apostle wrote to the Corinthians, “If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us.” 2 Corinthians 4:7 (MSG). So, even though our bodies are perishable, they are still God’s chosen method to house His Spirit and to interact with other human beings on earth.
If you have failed to maintain the body that God gave you, you must return to an alignment with the purpose of your Creator. You are commissioned by God to treat your body with the highest level of respect. The Old Testament proclaimed the health and well-being of each person as a fundamental part of the Jewish religion. Personal hygiene guidelines, dietary laws, disease prevention laws and dozens of related customs were imposed upon the people in an effort to keep them healthy. The New Testament views many of these laws as spiritual applications, but the principle of maintaining a healthy body stays the same.
Unfortunately, far too many people have neglected their physical bodies. The kinds of abuse to which mankind has subjected the body boggles the mind. God never intended for us to become obese, drug addicts, alcoholics, smokers, consumers of poisonous junk food or mutilators of our physical beings. Proper understanding of the scriptures will turn this around and create new, healthier habits. If these demands seem extreme, they only show how far you may have drifted off of God’s chosen course.
The purpose in getting you on track with your body goes beyond health, feeling better, looking good or living longer. Those may be worthwhile objectives, but the real purpose is that this is what God wants! Keep God’s will as the driving force behind your exercises. It is your spiritual response to the divine purpose.