Honoring God with Your Body: Temple Maintenance

Your body isn't a project to be ashamed of. It's a temple to be cared for. The scars, the struggles, the imperfections—they don't diminish its value to God.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

“Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.”

I am so thankful that for the first 40 years of my life, I lived rather healthy. I may not have been at my ideal weight, but I was blessed with no ailments or diseases. The blessing of physical labor kept me sleeping well and relatively free from sickness, even when my family was sick.

Then it all changed. I've shared that part of my story. I was going to die, and if I didn't have a relationship with my Heavenly Father, I feel I would have. I'm sure I am alive right now because God saved me and wants my story to help others. Praise God!

I felt led to share some things I've been going through since I was ill. I don't pretend to understand what happened to me or why the side effects are what they are. What I do know is that these side effects keep the memory of God's grace and mercy at the forefront of my mind. So they do have a purpose. As much as I don't like them and pray for the Lord to restore my body, I am thankful for this walking monument to the power of God. This temple is not perfect by the world's standards, but in surrender, it's perfect for His will.

I gained weight, as embarrassing as that is. With that came all kinds of physical ailments that are extremely frustrating. I've prayed for relief for years, but with the heart problems I have from the sickness, medication options are limited to none.

As I know from experience, the Lord loves these situations where we have no other options but Him. Or, when we only see Him as the answer and find peace in His timing.

Last week, something shifted. Suddenly, all my efforts to eat better began having the effect I had been praying for. At the moment I least expected, the Lord used this to encourage me, and it worked.

Honoring God with your body changes a stressful situation into an act of stewardship. Instead of struggling to change out of shame, we need to care for ourselves out of respect and gratitude for what God created.

You see, honoring God with your body isn't about achieving physical perfection. It's about recognizing who created it, who lives within it, and who deserves the glory through it all.

Temple maintenance is a permanent, loving lifestyle of thankfulness.

Is your temple maintained?

Thank you, Father, for one more day. Amen

2 Corinthians 3:16-18

“But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.”

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