Taking Care of Your Body: The Holy Spirit's Temple
By: Jeremy Nelms
Submitted: 2009-06-07 23:04:58 | Word Count: 796
In the first Fit For Jesus blog post, I mentioned the following scripture from the Bible:
“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.” ~ 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20
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This scripture is only the beginning of the concept of becoming fit and healthy for spiritual purposes, but what a clear beginning it is! Our body is the literal, physical temple of the Holy Spirit. By taking care of our bodies, we are taking care of our righteous Holy Spirit’s temple. Our body is a gift from God, and we should all, in a simple act of thankfulness and love, take care of our body and the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Is taking care of His temple a requirement? Technically, no. Salvation through Jesus Christ is a gift of God’s abundant and perfect grace. Our salvation does not depend on our actions, but don’t you, out of love and appreciation, want to give something back to our gracious Heavenly Father, who gave His Son for us?
(In future articles, we will get into greater detail about how, while our actions here on earth have nothing to do with “deserving” salvation, our actions here on earth - including the decisions you make about nutrition and your levels of health and fitness - undoubtedly have much to do with our eternal heavenly rewards!)
Here is another passage from the Bible:
"Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”The Jews replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body." ~ John 2: 19-21
Jesus states that His body is a temple. I know when I first came across this passage, my gut response was, “Yeah, but that is Jesus. I can’t compare myself to Him and call my body a temple!”
It makes you feel uncomfortable to compare ourselves to Jesus, doesn’t it? Yet, in the Bible, it clearly states that we are “made new in Christ”, and through the Holy Spirit “conformed to the likeness of His Son.” Yes, we are conformed into the spiritual likeness of His character and His righteousness and holiness, but Jesus was also very human.
Jesus was all too clear: His human body was a temple!
"In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." ~ Ephesians 2:21-22
This passage from Ephesians really sealsdrives home the point, doesn’t it? We are, both individually and collectively, becoming a “dwelling in which GOD lives by His Spirit!”.
I think we can all agree that the Bible is conclusive: our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. In the days of the Old Testament, a tremendous amount of resources, including time, talent, attention, and money were devoted to the building of God’s temple, based on very clear direction from God. The temple of the Holy Spirit - our body - should be no different!
Pray today for the Lord’s strength to help you build a temple worthy of the Holy Spirit. Ask for strength to eat properly, the desire {and time |}}}to plan your meals, and increased priorities to create time to exercise. Start with God's clear scripture, and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you in more detail about His desire for you and your health!
Author Resource:-
Jeremy Nelms is the creator of Fit For Jesus! The world's largest Christian fitness website FitForJesus.com brings together people from around the world to support each other, lose weight and get in great shape at http://www.FitForJesus.com. With a rapidly growing Christian social network, you can receive nutrition tips, exercise techniques, recipes, and massive amounts of prayer support. Learn more about taking care of the temple of the Holy Spirit at Fit For Jesus today!
