Viral #3: A Healthy Lifesty and the Temple of the Spirit

In last Sunday’s sermon, Pastor Wil gave us some tips on maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Speaking from his own experience, one thing he focused on was maintaining a healthy diet. During a time when he did not watch his own diet, he gained weight and could notice a difference in his health.
Then, just about the time you started thinking you were attending a health seminar, rather than a church service, he shared with us some scriptures that speak of the relationship between the body, mind, and spirit. According to the Bible, our spiritual and mental health have an impact on our physical health. Likewise, our physical health has an impact on our spiritual and mental health. Not only does the Bible declare this to be true, but science and modern medicine have also testified to these facts.
To give just a couple examples from the Bible, Proverbs 3:7-8 says, “Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. Proverbs 14:30 says, “A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot.”
In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus taught us not to be anxious about anything, Why? His focus was on our need to trust God to meet our needs. But doctors and psychologists everywhere will tell you that anxiety can have a very negative effect on your physical health. And as Wil testified to, poor physical health has a negative effect on one’s ability to handle stress.
All this leads us to the conclusion that God is just as concerned with our physical health as He is with our having a right relationship with Him—our spiritual health. This conclusion is validated by I Corinthians 6:19-20: “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
Now, these words were written within the context of avoiding sexual sin. However, they can also be applied to other areas of our life, particularly how we take care of our bodies. If my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, then I need to take care of it. I need to take care of God’s temple.
But we do need to be careful not to go to certain extremes. Sometimes it seems our society is obsessed with diet and with health. Many late-night infomercials are advertising their new wonder diets or exercise equipment that you can buy “for just three easy payments of $49.99!” Watching these programs, not to mention the countless commercials throughout the day, as well as listening to all the experts on television and talk radio programs, can lead you to think that if you don’t look like a super model, then you are unhealthy, or at least unattractive.
The problem is that our society worships the body. It idolizes those who have the perfect physique, are athletes, and superstars. Some magazines annually rate and report on who is the “Sexiest Man of the Year.”
The difference between society’s obsession with health, diet, and good looks, and the Christian’s efforts to maintain a healthy lifestyle lies in motivation. Society worships the body and good health because people think this life is all we have to live, as well as the fact that they do not believe in God or recognize Him as the One who gave us our very lives in the first place.
From the Christian perspective, there is an eternal life that awaits us in heaven. And while we should not be foolish enough to think a healthier body in this life will equate to a healthier body in heaven, we do recognize that our bodies, like our money and material possession, truly belong to God. We ourselves are God’s property, and God has charged us with the responsibility of taking care of His property.

QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND APPLICATION

1. Read I Cor. 6:19-20 again. What does Paul mean when he says that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit? How often are you cognizant of that fact? If you were aware of it more often, how would that change the way you take care of your body?


2. Take a brief look at Matthew 15:1-20 (brief, because it is several verses). In light of what we learned in Wil’s sermon and this study, how should we apply what Jesus teaches here?


3. Passages like Romans 14 and I Corinthians 8 have a lot to say about Christian liberty—our freedom to do things the Bible does not specifically identify as sin. In light of that, how can we apply the principals of a healthy lifestyle without becoming legalistic about such things as eating junk food or red meant, or using alcohol and tobacco? Or should we be “legalistic” about them?