In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. He created the land and sky, plants and water, the sun and the moon, the beasts of the earth. And then He created the most unique and special of all—the only thing in all creation to be made in God’s very own image with a heart and soul engineered to know and be known by its Creator. To have a mind designed to comprehend the depths of God’s love, to reason, to make decisions. Truly one of a kind. And this special work of art God called man and woman—HUMAN. Beautiful, right?
Fast forward to today—we live in a culture of “you only live once” and “treat yourself” and “body positivity.” Of “eat this, not that” and “fat-burning coffee” and waist trainers. The world is very quick to bombard us with all the latest diets and fitness fads, and it gives us somewhat unrealistic standards to live up to and frankly, leaves us confused and in search of answers. We become slaves to our own bodies and our feeling of worth can quickly be tied to our appearance. In the United States, more than 30 million people suffer from an eating disorder. Food and fitness have become sources of shame and guilt for many.
I’d first like to make something abundantly clear. We have a very real enemy who loves to see us struggle. He sneers at God when he convinces us that our worth is found in our appearance. His goal is to make us doubt the love of the One who saved us. He wants us to forget that health is a gift. He wants us to forget that fueling our bodies and working out can actually be an act of worship to the Lord.
The human body is the most sacred and holy thing of all God’s creation. Genesis 1:26 says, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth…” POINT ONE: God chose to make the human race in HIS OWN IMAGE. He didn’t make trees in His image. He didn’t make dogs in His likeness. He chose MANKIND. We are set apart from the very get-go. God created us with an organ that is responsible for creativity and reasoning, for communication and emotion. It’s called the brain. The brain, home to our minds and thoughts, is designed to reflect its Creator. Have you ever thought about that? Sometimes we can get so caught up with trying to figure out God’s will for us, that we forget the simplicity of just being. God made us in His likeness—He’s already prewired us to glorify Him because we’re a reflection of His character!
So with this in mind, let’s talk about how God views our bodies. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “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; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.” God doesn’t liken our bodies to storage units or public restrooms. He doesn’t even compare it to a cozy little house. He calls it a TEMPLE. A holy, sacred place. It’s worthy of respect and honor. He didn’t choose trees, or oceans, or ladybugs. God chose OUR BODIES for His Spirit to dwell! He also says our bodies are not our own—He created them and bought them at the price of Jesus’s blood.
But here is a point where I believe things get a little muddied. Our bodies are called temples BECAUSE they are God’s chosen dwelling place. The temple itself is not God. We don’t worship a church building. We worship the Lord and the building is the place we do it in. We live in a culture that worships the body itself. We idolize it. It’s a really hard habit to break, and I am by no means claiming that I am a pro at it. But the reality is, the body is a place of worship, not the object of worship.
So how do our bodies bring worship and honor and glory to the Lord? First, let’s talk about anatomy and God’s calling. Have you ever thought about sweat glands? (I might be the only one because I’m a nerd but that’s ok, I’ll share my nerdy sweat thoughts with you anyway ☺.) In the beginning—BEFORE the fall—God called humans to work. Back then, desk jobs didn’t exist (obviously), so work really meant physical labor. Think about this for a second. Adam and Eve’s job was to care for the land God created. This was an outdoor job that required manual labor. Now let’s look at how God prepared their bodies for this task. He gave them muscles. He created skin to absorb sunlight and produce vitamin D within the body. Thanks to modern science, we now know that vitamin D plays a critical role in serotonin and dopamine release in the brain (aka the neurotransmitters in our brains that produce that happy feeling!). In that same vein, a sweaty workout releases toxins from our systems and also helps aid in the release of endorphins (another “happy” brain chemical!). So what am I getting at?
God designed our bodies physiologically to enjoy work/working out! He gave our bodies sweat glands to cool our body temperature down so that we’d maintain balance. He put so much thought into our bodies! Maybe I’m just in total nerd mode, but I love that!
Lastly, throughout scripture God talks about the value of the HEART behind things. Look at the care and intention that God poured into creating our physical bodies. He didn’t just haphazardly throw things together and hope they turned out ok. He engineered it to the most minute details. 1 Samuel 16:7 says, “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” So is this a green light to engage in unhealthy habits? No, not at all! Going off of that, Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” I’m going to be real right now. I had very disordered eating and unhealthy thought patterns attached to food in high school. There were times where my body literally felt like it hijacked my brain and I couldn’t control the food I would consume. It left me feeling so much shame. I used food to comfort my stress and emotions. When I think back on this time in my life, sure, my size in and of itself didn’t bother God. But my heart was clearly unhealthy and hurting. And because I was hurting, I turned to food for years. As a result, my health declined. My body began to physically show the state of unhealth my soul was in. And God cared about that. Fast forward to today—I weigh more than I did in high school. Do I still eat food that’s not best for my body? Yep. Do I still struggle with emotional eating sometimes? Yes, I do. But my heart and soul are in a much healthier place.
I’ll leave you with some closing thoughts. I love 1 Timothy 4:8, which says, “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” True physical fitness comes from a place of knowing our bodies are worthy of being cared for. They are designed for it. One of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control. 1 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.” And self-control—a fruit of the Spirit—ABSOLUTELY applies to our health and fitness! Now, do we have to be fitness models and only eat organic everything? I don’t think so! Hebrews 10:19-20 says, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body, and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” God is not a God of captivity and slavery to our bodies, but rather a God of FREEDOM. To be able to say, “God values my body, so I will, too.”
Shannon is a junior at Florida State University studying psychology, but is currently off on an adventure working for Walt Disney World. She is the author of the blog Simply Little She (simplylittleshe.com), and loves sharing her heart with the world through writing. She’s a big fan of slow mornings, Quinn XCII, and dancing any time of day. She believes there’s a whole lot of healing that comes from honesty. Right now, the Lord is teaching her what it looks like to be a bold and honest gospel voice in the world of media, as well as how to care for her body in a worshipful way.